


Huck's Pub

by xSnoopBunnyx



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Artist! Ben Solo, Bartender AU, Bartender! Hux, Beer, Eventual Smut, Ireland, Irish slang, Lots of Beer, M/M, Original Character(s), Self-Discovery, Slow Burn, Smut and Fluff, guinness, is my favorite, the gay awakens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 23:56:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13822155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xSnoopBunnyx/pseuds/xSnoopBunnyx
Summary: Hux is the owner of his family's pub in Arkanis, Ireland. One night, he meets a mysterious American wanderer, Ben Solo. He feels a weird pull toward Ben and begins to befriend the handsome traveler. Their friendship is quick to bloom but when one of them develops feelings, they don't know where their friendship will go.





	1. do re mi

**Author's Note:**

> Every chapter is named after the song that helped me write it. I love my Kylux playlist!  
> Also, marked explicit for eventual smut. Cause I love me some smutty smut!

It had been a long day at Huck’s Pub for Armitage. Not long because it was busy, no, this pub was never busy; it was long because he had gotten restless sleep the last several nights and had no desire to be closing the bar down tonight. It wasn’t quite time for last call yet so he just begun to start his early closing duties, since there were only a few patrons in the bar. He started to walk around clear any used glasses and empty bottles from small tables scattered around the small building. The cleaning duties of closing the bar were so routine and mundane, he could probably do it in his sleep. After dealing with the dishes and bottles, he set out to sweep and wipe down the counters. It was times like this that he was glad he got to pick the music that played, which was a collection of all his favorite songs. It ranged from the 70’s to classical to modern rock. As he walked around with broom, he hummed to himself.  
Tonight was just like any other night here, the same few gents who stayed till last call were sitting in their usual booths or stools at the bar. Armitage, who goes by Hux, nodded to a few as he passed them. He could name most of the men sitting in his pub, as most of them had known him since he was a lad. The familiarity was comfortable to Hux. It was one of the main reasons Hux decided to keep the bar in the family after his father’s passing several years before. Since he was an only child, it was either keep the bar and run it or sell it. He knew his father would roll over in his grave if he sold it. Ever since, Hux had updated a lot of appliances in the bar, most of the furniture and converted the menu. He had to hire new staff, including an assistant manager and two new bartenders. The size of the pub did not warrant more than a handful of barkeeps and only a few kitchen staff, which he left up to his kitchen manager. The kitchen had long closed for the night, since it was nearing two in the morning and after midnight they no longer served food. Hux had sent his second bartender home less than an hour ago. There was no reason two were needed to close on a night like this.  
He continued what closing work he could while there were still patrons. As he was walking around to get back behind the bar, he noticed a young man in a black leather jacket sitting towards the end of the bar. He couldn’t see his face from the angle he was at but he was sure he didn’t recognize the man. He walked over to where the man was sitting across the bar counter to get a better look.  
As he neared him, the man looked up from his pint. His long black hair flipped up over his head to reveal a pale skinned young man. His face was littered with small, dark moles, but not in an unattractive way. They were endearing. His nose was slightly larger in comparison to the rest of his features but it seemed to suit him.  
“Want another before I call last call, mate?” He nodded towards the young man’s nearly empty glass.  
“Sure, thank you.” When the man spoke, Hux was taken aback. He was American. Not many Americans ventured to this part of Ireland. Especially a town as small as this. Most Americans in Ireland were tourists who went to Dublin or came just to tour castles, which there was one in the small market town of Arkanis.  
“Whatcha’ drinkin’ then?” Hux grabbed the man’s glass.  
“Just Guinness.” His voice was smooth and deep. It caught Hux off guard once again. He’d heard Americans speak before but this man’s voice was quite unique.  
As Hux filled his glass up again, he asked, “So you’re American?”  
“Yeah.” The man offered no more detail.  
“What brings you this way?” Hux placed his glass back in front of him.  
The man grabbed the glass and took a long swallow of it. Hux was almost impressed at the American man handling a stout such as Guinness so well. He had heard Americans drank weak beer. “I’m just wandering, I suppose.” He took another long swallow.  
Hux was more than intrigued by the dark wanderer now, but he did not want to press, as the guy was already giving rather short answers, probably not wanting to be bothered. He decided to keep his questions vague.  
“Just around Ireland, or?” He made it seem casual by grabbing a cloth and beginning to wipe down the tap station behind the bar. He knew he’d have to clean them in a little while anyway but he didn’t want to lean over the counter to talk to the young man.  
“Just anywhere I can really. I left college to travel, hoping to… I don’t know really. Find something. Someone. Myself, maybe. I’m not sure.” He took another long swig of beer, nearly half finished his pint just in three gulps.  
“Well, it’s a good a place as any to find yourself. Not much else to do around here really,” Hux said, smiling. “Are you staying locally?”  
“A B&B just down the way a bit.”  
“Be careful walking home at night. Big cities are scary.”  
The young man suddenly burst into laughter. Hux had expected he’d crack a smile or a light chuckle, not the full blown bellowing laughter erupting from the man’s chest. It was a wholesome sound.  
“Well I’d better be on my way then. Don’t wanna be out too late on the dangerous streets.” The young man was smiling as he pushed up from his stool to stand. He closed out his tab, leaving a good extra bit for Hux.  
“Well, have a good night then, friend.” Hux hollered to the guy, who turned around in the doorway to wave to him.  
It was one of the nicest interactions Hux had had with a stranger in the bar. Most of the visitors in this town were family or friends of locals. They were all usually nice, but from the same boring lot of people Hux was used to. Arkanis was one of those small towns where everyone knew one another, no one was a stranger there. While, most of the time, it was pleasant to know everyone around you, knowing you have friends and neighbors to rely on, it’s also delightful to meet new, exciting people, such as mysterious Americans.  
Hux found himself thinking about the interaction with the man for the rest of his night. He called for last call about an hour after the guy had left, most of the men in there had cleared out without a grumble or word, but a couple of the older gents had choice words about being kicked out. It was also amusing when the tipsy men got in his face, since they were usually about eighty years old and standing about a foot shorter than him.  
As he finished up his closing duties, he wondered if he would encounter that guy again, or if he was just passing through for the evening. It was odd to him that he found himself wanting the guy to come into the pub the next evening for a drink and a chat. 

******************************************************************************

 

The next day, Hux went into the pub at about four in the evening. It was again his night to close the bar down. When he got in, it was fairly steady since it was nearing dinnertime. The town was small enough that if couples wanted to go out for dinner and drinks, Huck’s was basically the only option. There was one other restaurant in town, Maz’s, and two bed and breakfasts. Lining the main street in the small downtown area were several small shops, all run by locals. It was a quaint village town, mostly farms outside the small main square, and a lot of dirt roads. There was one run down, crumbling castle a few miles out of the town, up on a hill that overlooked a small lake. It was a charming and beautiful place, but definitely not a tourist attraction. Nothing brought tourist this way and that was exactly how the locals liked it.  
When Hux walked into the pub, several patrons smiled and waved at him, knowing he was the owner or recognizing him as a friend. He smiled back, making his way over to several tables, making small conversations.  
“How’s the family, Sean?”  
“The girls doing alright?”  
“Look at you, my lady. You are looking stunning!”  
He was having a grand time catching up with everyone before he decided it was probably time to actually start working. He said a few goodbyes and see-you-later’s to his friends and neighbors, making his way to the bar. He walked around, inspecting the tap’s and counters as he went by. He made sure Irene, the daytime bartender, was doing alright, asking her how her day was, how business was going today, all the required managerial questions. After he was satisfied with her answers, he walked through the door to the kitchen to check out how to kitchen manager and staff were doing.  
After his discussion with his staff, he finally made it to the very back of the building, where he had a small office tucked away. He closed the door and locked it. He was big on privacy while he worked and he knew if he was needed desperately they could knock. There was going to be no need for him though. He decided he would work back in the office for about an hour before he would make his way back to the bar floor. Irene would be leaving at eight and the kitchen would be shutting down around ten. He knew he wasn’t needed in either place for a while so he didn’t feel bad taking extra time to himself.  
He pulled out his Mac from his laptop bag and set it on his desk. He opened it up and pulled up several spreadsheets, one of them being sales record. He set to work inputting and calculating, making sure he was keeping the business afloat. One of the problems he worried he would run into when taking over the business was that it would absolutely tank. He knew it was a small village and he always wondered how if father had managed to keep it running. Now that he knew the numbers, he had more confidence in himself and the pub.  
After he was satisfied with the amount of work he did, he sat back in his chair and propped his Converse clad feet up on the desk. He enjoyed a more business casual style, which generally included a nice button down shirt, buttoned all the way up, usually in a grey or green color, nice darker washed jeans, usually slim or skinny fit, with a pair of clean and classic black and white Converse sneakers. He sometimes threw in a bowtie for extra effort. He didn’t usually stray from this style, except during his first couple years at university when he was part of a gentlemen’s club, where they would dress in suits on the weekend. His was usually slim fit, navy with a skinny tie. Sometimes he missed having something to dress up for, but was definitely happy with his more relaxed life.  
Deciding he would take a wee break, he pulled out his phone and pulled up Facebook. He scrolled through his newsfeed, laughing at and sharing meme’s, liking or commenting on post’s he was tagged in, and scoffing at the random American news he would see. Facebook was a vortex he could get sucked into for hours. It was always an easy way to pass time while he was back in his office, though he sometimes felt bad being on his phone while he staff was working. That lasted about twenty seconds before he remembered how slow they are and how competent his staff is. He went back to scrolling through his feed.  
It had been a while that he was just sitting on his phone, when he heard a knock at his door. He jumped up and answered it quickly.  
“What’s the matter, Rene?” He asked, genuinely concerned.  
“Mr. Finnegan is here again. Demanding you come discuss a matter with him.” Irene rolled her eyes as she finished her statement.  
Mr. Finnegan was a sixty-year-old man who had been coming to Huck’s since he was teenage boy. At that point it had been run by Hux’s grandfather, Brendol Sr., with his father, Brendol Jr. as a barkeep. He was a good man, but once Armitage had taken over the pub after his father’s passing, Mr. Finnegan would throw tantrums about the most random things. He was convinced the Guinness on tap was some new, light beer, or that the peanuts weren’t salted as they were when it was Brendol’s bar, or the food was not cooked right. Every time he came in, he had something to complain about. And yet, he kept coming in. Hux started to feel bad for him after a while and would just talk him down and send him on his way.  
“Alright, I’ll be right out there.” He sighed and placed his phone in his front pocket. No more Facebook vortex for him.  
He walked out to the floor and spotted Mr. Finnegan leaning on the bar, talking to another older gent, looking quite animated. Hux sighed, assuming that Finnegan was talking nasty about the pub and whatever issue he was having today. This man was going to be the death of him. He strode over to the older man, clearing his throat and plastering on a horribly fake customer service smile.  
“Mr. Finnegan, what can I do for you, good sir?” Hux remained smiling, preparing himself for the man’s irritating temper.  
“Well Mr. Hux, I’m actually looking for a location to host my birthday in a week and I could think of no better location than my favorite bar!”  
Hux was clearly taken aback, as his smile wavered and he blurted out, “Hold on, sir, are you takin’ a piss out on me?”  
Mr. Finnegan let out a loud guffaw and clapped Hux on the back. “Young man, when your da took over the bar, I gave him hell too. I’m making sure you have the plums for the job, lad.” All the men around them began to laugh along with Finnegan.  
“Well, in that case, I’d be thrilled to have your party here.” Hux said, slack jawed in astonishment. He shook his head in disbelief, but then realized he shouldn’t be surprised. The older gentlemen in this town were a force to be reckoned with. “Come back in the morning and we’ll discuss when and such.”  
“Alright, laddie, you keep up the good work. Make yer da proud.” Hux smiled at that sentiment.  
“I’ll try. Irene, get this gent a glass of the the dark stuff, on the house!” Hux bid Mr. Finnegan goodbye and sauntered back through the kitchen into the office. He was feeling slightly better about today.  
As he slid back into his slightly too worn office chair, his thoughts drifted to closing down the bar and the guy he had met. He didn’t know why he was feeling some sort of way about the encounter. He hadn’t met an American who had come through this town for no reason other than wandering. It was fascinating. He found himself pulling himself out of his chair and walking back out to the bar area in hopes of seeing him.  
When he walked out to the floor, he didn’t see the mop of black hair so he stood behind the bar surveying the customers in there at the moment. There was a fair bit of men sitting at the bar, drinking their beers, munching on peanuts or whatever appetizers they ordered. There were a few couples scattered around the dining room area, eating dinner and drinking. It was a familiar and comforting sight. He remembered coming in when he was a barely in primary school, trailing behind his ma, before she passed, scared of all the people. His dad was always behind the bar, chatting up the people at the bar, looking as if he belonged. As Hux got older, he wondered if he would ever have his dad’s natural talent with people, and pouring the perfect Guinness stout.  
He began walking around, checking on the tables and the people hanging about the bar. He made conversation with the people he knew, and began to get familiar with people he didn’t know. There were a few people he knew from secondary school there, a couple friends of his fathers, and neighbors he knew since he was a kid. After making his rounds, he walked back behind the bar and made conversation with Irene while she and him served the men at the bar. There was usually a steady amount of guys who sat at the bar and if one left, another gent would usually walk in to take his place. This would go on until around eleven, and then there would only be a few guys linger till closing.  
Before he knew it, it was nearing ten. He told Irene she was good to go, after she finished out her closing duties, which were just some simple cleaning jobs and making sure she got cashed out properly.  
As she was bustling around cleaning, getting ready to leave, the door open, catching Hux’s attention. When he looked up from the drink he was pouring, he saw the wanderer walking in, taking a place at the bar, suspiciously close to where Hux was.  
Hux finished the drink he was making, handed it to the gentlemen it was for, and walked over the where the young man had sat down.  
“Hey stranger, yer back again, I see.” Hux leaned onto the counter.  
“Yeah, you pour the best Guinness I’ve had, figured I should make the most of it while I’m here.” He hinted at a small smile.  
“Is that what you’re drinkin’ tonight then, mate?” Hux reached for a glass.  
“Yes, please.” The man said as Hux already pulled the tap down. The man reached in the pocket of his fitted leather jacket and pulled out his phone. He started to scroll while waiting for his beer. Hux placed the perfectly foamed up dark stout in front of the man, who set his phone down on the counter to take a hard swig of the beer.  
“Nothing like that first sip, eh?” Hux really wasn’t sure why he was trying so hard to talk to this guy but he wasn’t about to stop.  
“Yeah, seriously. I feel like I’ve never even had a real beer before I came here.” He took another drink.  
“No one does it quite like the Irish.” Hux hesitated for a moment. “Well, give a shout if you need anything else.” He turned to make sure other bar dwellers were doing alright, getting a couple guys refills and one guy a glass of water.  
Hux busied himself, all the while stealing glances over at the dark haired stranger sitting at the bar. He noticed the young man had not picked up his phone since he placed it down. He wondered if that mean he was up for conversation. After he had tended to the other patrons, he’d pop back over there and see if he could strike something up.  
“So, what’s your name, kid?” Hux asked as he sauntered back over, throwing a rag over his left shoulder. How terribly cliché.  
“Kid?” The younger man scoffed. “I’m twenty-one, hardly a kid, and my name is Ben.” He smiled up at Hux before taking a swallow of his beer. “Ben Solo.” He set down his beer and extended his hand out to Hux.  
Hux took Ben’s hand in his own, noticing how strong the man was. He shook it and pulled his hand back and ran it through his hair. “Nice meetin’ ya, Ben. My name is Arimitage Hux. Though, just call me Hux, yeah?”  
“Huck’s? Like the bar name?” Ben quirked an eyebrow up.  
“Technically, though, the modern spelled is with an ‘x.’” He got that question a lot when new people came into the bar. “It’s a family run place, has been for generations. We changed that spelling of our name somewhere in the early 20th century.”  
“So you own the bar, or your father?”  
“Uh, that’d be me. My da passed away several years ago. Came back from university to take over, good thing I got a business and management degree, then.”  
“Oh I’m sorry to hear that. Is your mom around?” Ben asked, hesitantly.  
“She passed when I was in primary school, don’t remember her too much, honestly.” This was a weirdly intimate conversation for someone he had just met, though Hux didn’t seem to mind. He was fine spilling his whole life to this handsome stranger. Not stranger. Ben.  
“I’m sorry to hear that too. My dad recently passed away, that’s why I decided to go out and travel. He left me some money and a letter with all his favorite places. It felt a little cliché at first, but it feels good now.” Ben was staring more intensely at Hux, most likely feeling the same way about the conversation as he was.  
“Guess it’s my turn to say sorry. But travelling is amazing. Where have you been so far?”  
The two men ended up talking about Ben’s adventures in the UK for the next half an hour, during which Irene came up to get cashed out. Hux told Ben he’d be right back so he could take care of her cash out and grabbing the few gentlemen left either refills or their tabs to pay for. After a few minutes of bustling around, Hux walked back over to Ben, who had picked up his phone to scroll on and leaned back over the counter. As soon as Ben saw him, he locked his phone screen and slid it back into his pocket. They resumed their conversation about where Ben had just been.  
Hux learned that Ben hailed from New York City, which seemed very stereotypical American travel of him, but he expressed his disdain for the city. Ben talked about his favorite places he’d travel had been all the same towns between cities, staying at the local run B&B’s and trying all kinds of new food and different homemade recipes.  
“Which B&B are you at?” Hux asked.  
“Rey of Sunshine B&B. Literally just a block away from here. I walked here this evening. It’s a great little town.”  
“Ah, so you’ve met the lovely Miss Rey? And her other half Finn?”  
“Does everyone know everyone in this town? She literally asked me if I’d met the bar owner Armie, which I’m now assuming is you?”  
Hux let out a wholesome chuckle. He remembered the day he had met Rey right after secondary school when she moved into town to help her grandfather at the B&B. She was spunky, busting into the bar, trying to meet everyone she could in town. She had the best personality and Hux had taken to her right away, in a completely platonic way. Rey had met Finn shortly after she befriended Hux, and those two were into each other immediately. They’d been together ever since, marrying about five years ago.  
“Yeah, I would be the Armie she’s referring to. I hate that stupid nickname, to be honest, but she insists. And Arkanis is quite a small down, lad, we all know one another. Except when the likes of yous pops into town.” Hux teased him.  
Ben let out a lighthearted chuckled, the sound making Hux’s smile even wider. Hux hadn’t met someone in quite some time that he was so drawn to. It was refreshing to get to know someone knew, even if it would only be temporarily.  
“So, Ben, how long will you be around for?”  
“I’m not sure, the country is so beautiful, I’ve found somewhere new to sit and draw every day. I don’t know if I could leave anytime soon.” Ben took the last swig of his pint. Hux wasn’t sure if he should take it and refill it or if Ben would want to pay his tab.  
His question was answered when Ben nudged his empty glass in his direction and raised his eyebrows at Hux. “Another barkeep?”  
“Coming right up, sir.” Hux grabbed the glass and refilled it.  
They chatted on and off for the next several hours, since Hux had to help other guests and actually do some work while he was there. He refilled Ben’s glass several more times as well. He suddenly realized it was nearing 2:30, when he pulled out him phone for the first time in several hours, and he’d have to call last call, though it was only Ben and one other man remaining in the bar. Hux walked over to the other man, tapped him on the shoulder and told him it was time to head on out. The man shoved bills in Hux’s direction and stumbled out of the bar. Hux walked over to the register, closed the man’s tab and placed the cash in the drawer. He closed up the register and walked over to where Ben was seated and leaned onto the counter.  
“Much to my dismay, it’s time for me to close down, friend.” Hux said, with what was probably too much disappointment in his voice.  
“Do you work tomorrow?” Ben asked, out of the blue.  
“Uh, nah actually. I’m off for the next two days to prepare for my ten days of closing shifts, since one of my girls is heading out for a trip.” He wondered where this was headed or if was just a casual question. Jaysus, why was he so nervous?  
“Well, I was just wondering if you could show me that dilapidated castle, ya know, if you know anything about it.” Ben took the last swallow of his beer and then gave Hux a small smile.  
“Yeah, yeah, sure. That’d be a grand time. Perfect weather too. I used to go up there when I was a kid.” Hux was genuinely excited to have a reason to go back up to that old castle. He wasn’t exaggerating when he said he would venture up here as a child. He would run away for hours with buddies from school and play up there when he was a small child and then into his teen years he’d go up there to mess around with several local girls. He lost his virginity to a lass name Jess up there when he was sixteen years old. Teens in the town now seemed to have little interest in it other than for aesthetic Instagram photos or Snapchats. He was thrilled to be going back up.  
“Awesome, what time should we go?” Ben seemed to light up a little bit.  
“I can meet you at your B&B around noon? It’d be nice to see Rey a little bit too, and I live just down the road a bit. You fine with walking up there?”  
“Walking is perfect.” Ben stood up and reached into his back pocket for his small black leather wallet.  
Hux started shaking his head. “It’s on the house tonight, friend.”  
“No, man, I couldn’t possibly let you do that.” Ben started grabbing bills from his wallet.  
“I insist. It’s not often I can treat a stranger to a proper pint, and I’ll let you buy dinner tomorrow.” He didn’t realize what he said until it tumbled out of his mouth. He wished he could grab the words and shove them back town. It was rude of him to assume that they would be spending the entirety of the day tomorrow.  
But Ben smiled a little wider, stuffing the money back in. “You got yourself a deal. I’ll see you tomorrow at noon, Hux.” He walked to the door and gave a wave before he walked out.  
Hux’s heart dropped to his bum as soon as Ben walked out. He didn’t understand the weird feelings this man was giving him. He had never been interested in men before, or at least had never done anything with one. He’d objectively found men attractive, multiple men, in fact, but never in a way that made him want to pursue one as more than a friend. But hearing his name on Ben’s lips was giving him feelings in his gut he couldn’t understand.  
He tried to rid his mind of the intrusive thoughts as he bustled around the bar, cleaning up what still needed to be done and closing down the remaining register. He left a note for Irene to go to the bank in the morning for the deposit and reminding her of his two days off, though he may stop in for a pint. He grabbed his messenger bag, turned off the light and walked out. He turned to lock the door with his keys and then made his way home.  
He always walked to work, as there was almost no point in driving. He did own a car, his beloved Audi R8, for travel purpose and if he felt like going on a drive through the countryside, which did happen frequently. But for work and going to the shops, his car was unnecessary. The weather in Ireland was never too hot for his liking and walking home during the wee hours of the morning it was especially mild. The air and ground felt damp from the earlier rainfall, but it wasn’t raining during his walk home.  
His thoughts drifted to Ben and what they were going to do tomorrow. Hux would take him up to the castle and they would most likely explore all the decaying buildings of it. At its prime, it was most likely a grand castle, with beautiful gardens and a huge staff. Hux had no idea who’s castle it was, as it had been abandoned on the hillside for centuries. Everyone just assumed it was a vacation home of some random royal. Hux wondered if Ben was going to take his sketchpad and do some drawings while he was up there. It made his heart beat a little faster knowing Ben was a creative man.  
He got to his house around 3:30 and made a b-line for his bed. He threw off his shirt and trousers, choosing to sleep only in his pants. Falling into his bed, his mind drifted to Ben again. He wondered if he was already asleep, or if he stayed up later as he had. Hux turned onto his side to face the window in his room and sighed heavily. Maybe tomorrow would give him some clarity into why he was feeling the weird way he was about Ben Solo. He drifted off to sleep, with Ben and Guinness on his mind.


	2. Castle

The next morning, Hux was up at ten, bustling around in his kitchen, making himself a hardy breakfast. He decided he’d cook up some bacon, eggs and fried potatoes. He set to work on his breakfast, listening to music from his phone while he cooked. Once he was mostly done, he set the kettle on the stove to boil water for tea.   
He settled down into his kitchen chair with his breakfast. His kitchen overlooked his living room, and he decided to catch up on one of his shows as he ate his breakfast. He picked up his phone to check his notifications on all his various social media. He started with Snapchat, sending a few choice faces to some friends to keep their streak, including his darling Rey. He moved onto Instagram, scrolling a bit aimlessly before moving onto Facebook, where he always had the most notifications. What surprised him was seeing that he had a friend request. He hit the notification for it and was surprised at the name he saw.  
Benjamin Solo.  
Benjamin Solo has sent you a friend request.   
He immediately hit the ‘accept’ option and went to Ben’s profile. It appeared that Ben was not big into Facebook, as he didn’t have many posts of photos of his own. Hux went through his bio a little bit. Single. Lives in New York, New York. Birthday February 28th, 1997. Once he felt sufficiently creepy about that, he moved onto pictures of Ben.  
Most of the pictures seemed to be posted by a Leia Organa, which Hux gathered to be his mother. They were of Ben throughout the years, ranging from him as a child, through his teen years, including awkward prom pictures, graduation pictures. Hux stopped his scrolling when he saw a picture of Ben kissing a raven haired beauty. His heart dropped to his arse and he was not sure why. It wasn’t like he had any reason to be jealous of Ben for kissing such a beautiful girl, and he surely wasn’t jealous of the girl.   
He continued scrolling, though not as happily as before, when he came across a picture of the same girl’s left hand with a stunning diamond on it. The caption read, “I’m so thrilled for my son Benjamin Solo and his lovely fiancé Serena.” Dated over a year ago.   
Suddenly, he felt his food in his stomach. It threatened to rise up, though he did he best to hold it down. Why did he care so much if Ben was engaged? Was Ben even still engaged? His profile said Single? Tentatively, Hux ventured to this “Serena’s” profile. Her full name was Serena Thomasson. She was a stunning woman, and her profile picture was he kissing a man who was not Ben Solo. Hux quickly retreated from her profile. He scoffed at himself in shame and threw his phone onto the table. Facebook was vile. It made him feel like an obsessive creep. He told himself he would not go through Ben’s page again.   
He looked over at the clock on the stove and it read 11:13. He hopped up and made his way to the bathroom. He took a quick shower, trying to scrub the shame off of himself. After towel drying his body and hair, he wrapped it around his waist and walked over the wardrobe. He caught a glimpse of his body in the mirror. He stopped to inspect himself.  
He wasn’t an overly fit man, but he did have lean muscle. He was rather tall, almost 185 cm (6’2”). He had very fair skin, a result of living in a dreary, rainy climate, that was littered with light freckles all over. His fiery hair was parted on the right side, but not a harsh part, it was still slightly shaggy, making him look younger than he was. He was currently sporting a short beard, which he seemed to prefer as of late. He thought he was, all in all, an attractive young man. He wasn’t insecure about his appearance, other than maybe the ease in which he burned out in the sun.   
He moved away from the mirror, content in his appearance, and went to open to wardrobe. He pulled out a light grey t-shirt, black slim jeans, and slipped them on. He pulled on his favorite navy blue hoodie because he knew the weather wouldn’t hold all day; there would be rain at some point today. He decided to grab his messenger bag, and made his way back to the kitchen. He grabbed a couple bottles of water and Guinness from the fridge and stuck them in his bag. What kind of outing would it be without a stout? He checked the time once again. 11:48. He made his way to his front door, slipped on his much loved white converses, and made his way down the street. Rey’s B&B was only a five minute walked from his house.   
When he made it there, he walked in, ringing the little bell they kept on the front desk.   
“Armie! Is that you, love?” He heard a sweet voice call from a few rooms away.  
“Yes, my dear, tis I, the love of your life!” He called as he made his way into the kitchen, where he knew the voice was coming from. When he entered the room, he saw Rey standing in what appeared to be workout clothes, grabbing a glass of water. “Jaysus Rey, you workin’ out?”  
She chuckled and then sighed, “Yeah, Finn thinks we need to be in better shape. ‘We are young and we need to be fit, we are too lazy.’” She lowered her voice to mock her husband. It was endearing. She had a very crisp, clear posh accent, as she hailed from London. She moved to Ireland when she was seventeen, to help at her Grandda’s B&B. Mr. Kenobi used to run the place, before he got sick. Rey had loved visiting as a child, so she came to help manage as soon as she was done with secondary school.  
“You both look smashing, but to each his own.” He leaned himself in the doorway. “So how’s business?”   
“Booming, clearly.” She gave another sweet chuckle. Rey truly was a ray of sunshine. She could cheer up anyone she wanted. “We have two guests now, one who doesn’t know when he’ll be leaving. I believe you’re here for that one actually. Want me to give him a shout?”   
“Nah, I can run up and knock if you don’t think he’ll mind.”   
Rey shook her head, “No, he probably won’t. He’s truly lovely. He got in rather late the last two nights and wouldn’t stop apologizing for it. I told him ‘love, we are young and drink too, don’t worry’ but he went to far as to help me with breakfast. I like him. Good fellow, he is.” She walked over to a cabinet and pulled out what looked to be protein powder of some sort.  
“Nasty stuff that is there.” He joked as he bowed out of the room. He headed for the steps and took them two at a time. “Ben!” He hollered through the hall when he realized he forgot to ask Rey which room he was in.   
“Gimme one second, Hux!” He heard in response.   
A moment later, Ben emerged from the second bedroom on the right side of the long hallway. He was wearing a black V-neck t-shirt with a maroon and blue plaid shirt layered over, dark wash blue jeans, and black sneakers. He was a dark mass of a person, but at the same time, did not look intimidating at all. He was holding a sketchbook and what looked to be a pencil case.  
“Mornin’ Ben.” Hux said with a big smile plastered on his face.   
“Good morning, Armie.” Ben returned the smile.   
“Don’t ya start that too, ya shit.” Hux chuckled and turned to walk down the stairs. He heard Ben following close behind him.   
“Rey Kenobi, don’t ya go putting shite in this kid’s head, I won’t stand for two of you calling me that horrid name.” He called as he rounded the corner into the kitchen. She was still standing there making a protein shake, but Finn has joined her and was sporting loose shorts and a plain black t-shirt. “Oi’ Finn, lookin’ good!” He walked up to Finn, going in for their usual half hug handshake that all men did.   
“Not so bad yourself champ,” Finn spoke in a crisp accent similar to Rey’s. “You could join us, ya know. You might start putting muscle on those bones, and making sure all that beer doesn’t go straight to here.” He patted his stomach as he spoke the last word.   
Hux laughed. “If I ever start to gain a beer belly, I’ll turn straight to you, friend.” He clapped Finn on the shoulder. The both knew it was all in good fun, Hux kept himself in good shape and Finn knew it.   
“I may need to start working on mine, with all this Guinness you people seem to push at me.” Ben stated, lightheartedly from the doorway.   
“Love, you have nothing to work on.” Rey gave him a cheeky wink, which made the man blush. Everyone chuckled at Ben’s clearly bashful self. It was endearing that such a handsome, and clearly fit, man was embarrassed at a wink. Hux gave him a pat on the shoulder.  
“You about ready there?” His hand lingered a second too long on Ben’s shoulder. He removed it as soon as he realized.   
Ben didn’t seem to notice Hux’s hand, which was a good sign, and smiled at him. “Yeah, could I put my book and pencils in your bag though? I realized this morning I didn’t have anything like that with me.”   
“Yeah, yeah. Not a problem.” He unzipped his bag and reached for Ben’s stuff. Ben handed him the book and case, which he slid carefully into the bag.  
“Well, let’s head up then. See ya later, dear.” He gave Rey a chaste kiss on the cheek and clapped Finn’s shoulder before he walked out of the kitchen. Ben gave them both a wave and followed Hux out.   
They got out onto the cobblestone road and began to walk up the road toward the castle. It would probably be a twenty-minute walk or so up to the hill the castle was on. They were walking the opposite of town, so they most likely wouldn’t run into any people along the way, unless there was anyone out for a walk or venturing to the castle as well, which was fairly unlikely.  
“We’ll pass my house along the way. It’s literally just right up here on the right in about a minute.” He said, trying to make casual conversation with Ben.  
“Oh nice, did you grow up in this town or move here?” Ben seemed genuinely interested.   
“I was born and raised here. Lived in the same house my whole life. The only time I wasn’t home was when I went to university, but I came back right after and on every holiday and break from school.” Hux fiddled with his jacket sleeve, unsure what else to do when walking next to someone.  
“I tried to go to college. Or University, whatever you call it. My dad was a mechanic, though, and wanted me to follow suit. I worked with him through my first couple years and then he passed. And here I am now.” Ben had his hands in his pockets, kicking at rocks as he walked.  
“So yer good with cars then?” Hux asked, turning his head to look at Ben.  
“Good enough, I suppose. Good enough to make some money.” Ben didn’t notice Hux looking at him at first, he kept his nose pointed to the ground. He only noticed when he, too, turned his head to get a look at Hux. They smiled at each other.   
“I don’t know shite about cars. Other than how to drive one, and pay other people to service it.” Hux chuckled and looked forward again. “Oh and there’s my house.” He pointed to the house to the right of the road they were on. It was down a small gravel driveway, where his car was parked at the end of it. His house was a faded brown color, one level home. It was a quaint little home, for a small three-person family. Since he was an only child and his da was before him, the home had been in the family for several generations. He briefly wondered if he’d ever have anything that was his own. The thought passed as quickly as it came, as he was proud of what he had done.   
“It’s real nice, we should stop by there on the way back. And beautiful fucking car. I’ve always wanted to work an Audi, but the garage I worked at wasn’t really upscale. Mostly beaters.”  
“Beaters?”  
“Beat up cars. Real run down, need a lot of work.”  
“Ah.” American slang. And then he realized Ben had said stop by his house. His heart raced at the idea of Ben in his home. He had literally just met this man several days ago. He should not be this enamored. He figured it was because he was new and exciting, getting to know someone was always fun, but he still didn’t understand why his heart was beating so damn fast.   
“We can go on a drive sometime, I like to go about the country sometimes, park on a cliff and watch the waves. Even if it rains, it’s beautiful here.” Hux found himself trying to make even more plans with the man.   
“That sounds awesome. I’d love to have some more inspiration.” Ben smiled brilliantly at Hux.   
“You’ll never be at a loss for beauty in Ireland.”  
“I noticed. Everything here is way better than New York, especially the people.” As he said that he looked back down at the ground and kicked a rock.   
Hux smiled gently at the statement. It made him happy to know Ben was happy here and liked the people.  
They continued their walk in silence for a little, but it wasn’t awkward. It was a comfortable silence, where they were just enjoying being with someone and listening to the sound of the wind. It was a beautiful day out, no more than 70F with a light breeze. It was mild and calm, though there was a prediction for rain, as always, starting in the late afternoon. They would probably get caught in it but when Hux addressed it with Ben, he said he was cool with it. Hux was used to the rain by now so it definitely didn’t bother him.   
As they were nearing where the castle was, the cobblestone road changes to a gravel road. It crunched under their sneakers as they walked. The road began to wear down to just two thinner gravel lines where tires would drive on. They could begin to see one of the peaks of the castle turrets. As they walked up the hill further, the entirety of the castle came into view.   
It was a moderate size castle, but still breath taking. There was still a distinguishable shape to it, the main part looked as if it once wrapped around a courtyard, where there was a crumbling fountain in the middle. It had two towers, or turrets, on the backside, that were the most worn down part of it. There was a smaller building attached to the side of it that looked as if it could have been a chapel. It was about the size of three average sized houses put together.   
As they neared it, Ben was staring at it up in awe. He took his phone out from his pocket and began snapping photos. He kept taking pictures as they walked up closer. They weren’t quite up to it, but they were high enough up on the hill that Ben could start to see the small lake that was nestled up against the hill. He took pictures of that as well.  
“Damn, Hux, I’ve went on some castle tours but nothing as breathtaking as this.” Ben was still awestruck. It was strange for someone to be do intrigued by such a simple sight. Locals just paid no mind to this castle, but not Ben. He seemed to fall in love with it immediately. Ben’s clear joy made Hux feel warm in his chest and he smiled brilliantly at the young man.   
When they finally made it up to the castle, Ben began to run his hands over the stone. It was still sturdy, having stood up to the harsh rains. The grey of the stone was a stark contrast to the bright green of the grass over the hillside. As Ben continued to study the side of the castle, Hux walked around to where the courtyard would have been and sat on the edge of the crumbled fountain. He couldn’t discern what the statue in the middle of it was supposed to be, but he had always assumed some figure of a noble or maybe an animal; it was too ruined to tell honestly.  
He pulled out his phone and pulled up his camera. As many pictures as he already had of the castle, he always took more when he was up there. And this trip up was even more special, since he was showing it to Ben for the first time. He was moving the phone around the scenery to find the perfect spot, when he settled on Ben, leaning against the stone looking down at the lake. He snapped a picture, hoping Ben couldn’t tell what he was doing. Ben looked over at him, and smiled a knowing slime. Seeing Ben smiling, Hux couldn’t help but snap another photo. It was such a candid shot.   
“How’s it look?” Ben called over, still smiling.   
Hux returned the smile. “Looks good enough.”  
Ben pushed himself off the wall and walked over to sit next to Hux on the stone ledge. He grabbed Hux’s phone from his hands and flipped the camera around to selfie mode. He held up his arm, until both he and Hux were in the shot. Hux smiled a goofy half smile, and Ben a tight lipped smile. Ben snapped the photo. And then a few more of them making different faces, a few silly ones, a couple serious, another smiling one. It was a wholesome set of photos.   
Ben handed Hux his phone back. “Send those to me. My mom will want to see them.”  
“I don’t have your number.”   
“Just send them through Facebook. I didn’t get a European sim card for my phone so I can’t actually call or text from me phone, just use Wi-Fi. It was a dumb mistake.”   
Hux pulled up Facebook on his phone and went to messages. He typed Ben’s name and began a chat. He sent all the photo’s they had taken together and the two he candid photos he had taken of Ben. He told Ben when he was done.  
“Sweet, I’ll have to wait till we’re at your house to send them, as long as you have Wi-Fi.” Ben stood up and began to walk around the courtyard area before he walked through the entrance to the actual castle.   
They spent the next couple hours wandering through the castles crumbling infrastructure. Hux was walking in front of Ben, spouting random facts about Ireland or the town of Arkanis. He asked Ben more about America and New York and his family, trying as hard as he could to avoid the subject of romantic relationships. He kept wanting to ask Ben about his fiancé but he knew it would be inappropriate to ask that out of the blue, especially because Ben would know Hux crept on his Facebook. He stuck to family and friends and their respective hometowns.   
Once they were though the main building of the castle, they made their way to the small attached building that was an old chapel. When they entered, Ben immediately sat in one of the pews, and asked Hux for his sketchbook. Hux handed it to him, but did not sit. He walked up the aisle between the pews up to the alter. He placed a hand down on it, feeling the cool stone beneath his fingers. He wasn’t a religious person, but his dad had been and being in the church made him think of him. He remembered all the times his dad would have to drag him by his collar to Sunday mass. He wished in these moments that he had been more willing to spend time with his dad, though he did not know he was going to lose him so soon.   
Hux spent the next few minutes looking around the alter, appreciating the stonework of the building. He looked over at Ben, who was extremely focused on his sketchbook and smiled. Ben was scrunching his face up as he erased and redrew something on his page and Hux silently chuckled to himself. He didn’t want to interrupt Ben so he took a seat in one of the pews in front of him, pulled out his phone and began to aimlessly check it. He pulled up several social media’s before focusing on Instagram yet again. He scrolled for a bit before deciding he wanted to post a picture. Flipping through his options, he decided to post one Ben had taken of him standing in one of the windows of the castles second story. It was an extremely aesthetic photo.   
He captioned it with a castle and cloud emoji, tagged it with several random hash tags and posted it. He immediately got notifications for likes and smiled to himself. He liked having an active social media and he prided himself on the aesthetic photos he put on Instagram. Purely out of curiosity, he looked up Ben’s name on Instagram. He was surprised when he found an account. He hit follow and scrolled through his page. It was mostly photos of sketches and paintings, which Hux went through and liked. He had a few selfies thrown in, but it was clear he wasn’t comfortable taking them.   
After a couple minutes of scrolling, Hux locked his phone and slipped it into his pocket. He stood to go see what Ben was up to, but when he turned around Ben wasn’t in the pew he had been in previously.   
“Ben?” Hux called out, and got no response.   
He walked around the chapel and could not find him, so he walked outside and called him name a few more times as he walked around. He finally spotted a black mass of a person walking down towards the small lake nudged up against the hill. He sighed in relief and jogged down to join Ben.  
“Oi, mate. Next time, warn before you ditch me, yeah?” He caught up to Ben, slightly out of breath.   
“Sorry, you were kinda zoned into your phone, so I just got up. I wasn’t gonna be down here for too long. I just wanted to grab some more pictures. I have so many ideas, I wanna remember each part perfectly.” Ben seemed to be super relaxed and happy.   
“Gotcha, yeah, this place is stunning.” Hux kept up with Ben as they made their way down the hill and stopped at the small rocky, dirt shore next to the lake. It wasn’t an overly large lake, honestly it was more of a large pond, in Hux’s opinion. “She’s nothing special, not even properly named. Though, locals have been calling her Lough Ani for as long as anyone can remember, maybe even centuries.” Hux picked up a flat rock, angled his wrist the proper way, and flung the rock into the water. It bounced three times, causing beautiful ripples, before it sank into the water. Hux took that moment to look up at Ben and noticed he had been taking pictures of him.   
“Sorry, you just looked really happy. Wanted to capture it.” Ben smiled shyly down at his phone.  
“Nah, it’s good. Ya just gotta send it to me.” Hux smiled widely at him. He was genuinely happy and was glad Ben was taking photos.   
They ended up sitting in the grass next to the lough, and Hux pulled out the bottles of Guinness he had packed. Opening them up, he handed one to Ben. They sat and talked and drank for what felt like forever. It was only when they felt drops of rain on their cheeks, that they ceased conversation. Out of nowhere, rain began to pour down.   
They made a run for the castle, both slipping a bit whilst running up the hill. They ran into the main hall of the decayed castle and fell to the ground. Looking between each other, they both burst into a fit of laughter. What great timing. They sat, leaned against the cool stone, talking as the rain beat down outside. Ben was thankful he had put his sketchbook in Hux’s bag before the rain had started. He would have been pissed if work got ruined by ill-timed weather.   
The rained stopped about half an hour after it had started and they decided it was probably about time they headed back into time. It was nearing dinnertime by this point and they were both hungry.   
“So what do you wanna do for dinner?” Ben asked as they made their way down the gravel road.   
Hux hadn’t even thought about what they would do, as he usually spent most of his time in the pub and ate dinner there. Or picked it up from the pub. “I’m not sure, did you wanna sit and eat or cook something up?”   
“Do you cook?”  
“Fuck no.” They both laughed at that.   
“What would we pick up? Doesn’t seem to be many take out options in town.”   
“Kid, I own one of the two food places in town. We can pick something up from the pub then head to my place to eat?”   
“Sounds like a plan.” Ben smiled a boyish smile at Hux.   
“Lemme call Rene, tell her to have the kitchen whip us up some fish and chips. Is that alright?” Ben nodded as Hux pulled out his phone to call.   
They continued walking as Hux talked to Irene on the phone. He told her he was going to pick up some food and then started asking questions about the day. He could not help himself, even when he was not working he had to know what was going on, who was there, and if there were any issues he should be aware. Irene was a competent worker and he knew it, but he couldn’t help the instinct to manage from afar. He stopped pressing her with questions when he saw Ben side eye him and raise his eyebrows. Realizing he must have look extremely controlling, he said a quick goodbye to Irene and hung up.   
“Sorry…” He said, shyly.   
“How old are you, Hux?” Ben asked, quite out of the blue.  
“Uh, I’m 26, why?” Hux was rather confused as to the relevance of the question.  
“Sometimes you seem younger, like my age, especially cause of how you dress. But sometimes you definitely seem older, especially since you run an entire business.” Ben began to kick rocks as he did on the walk there. The ground was damp now though, so most of rocks were either covered in mud or stuck in it. He gave up his efforts after he missed several rocks.  
“Well, I’m not that much older. And the business was handed down to me, it was a quick learn, and helped that’s what I studied in uni.” Hux remembered the fight he and his father got into the day he told him he was planning to go away. It didn’t occur to him until years later that his dad wasn’t upset at him getting a degree, but he was lonely. He hadn’t wanted him to leave him all alone. He shook his head at the memories, willing them away for the moment.   
“I studied art at university.” Ben changed the subject, seeming to sense that it was a touchy subject for Hux.  
“Have you always been interested in art?”   
“Since I can remember, my mom always encouraged it, cause her dad and brother were both artists, and made a fairly good living from it, but my dad was never into all that.” Ben looked contemplative, as if he wanted to say more but didn’t.  
Hux couldn’t help himself and blurted out, “And your girlfriend? Is she supportive?” What a shite way to probe about his romantic relationships.  
Ben made a sour face and turned towards Hux. “Hasn’t been someone in quite some time.” He sighed. “I had a girlfriend through most of my senior year of high school, and into college… I proposed to her and she said yes. We were nineteen and planning out a life together from dorm rooms.”  
“So, what happened, if you don’t mind me asking?” Hux suddenly felt terrible about asking, as he could only imagine how badly it must have ended for Ben to talk about with such contempt.   
“She cheated on me, or had been cheating on me. It wasn’t clear at the time. But I walked in on them in her dorm one night, trying to surprise her. I wanted to kill that guy at first, but then I realized he really didn’t know better. He was almost as confused as me. I think they are still together though.”   
“Well, good for them then. And good for you too, lad. You’re always better off without liars and cheaters in yer life.” Hux reached over to pat Ben on his shoulders, but lingered slightly too long. He pulled away abruptly. “Back into town, we are.” He said as they began to walk on cobblestone once again.   
They passed his house again, and the B&B, and several other shops and homes before reaching the pub, which was located in the small main square of the town. Hux held the door open for Ben, who graciously accepted. The pub had the familiar smell of stout, salt and oyster stew; it was like home to Hux. He walked up to the bar counter, with Ben close behind and waited for Irene to come over. When she approached, she was holding a brown paper bag of food. As soon as he got a whiff of the fish and chips, his stomach growled angrily at him. He realized it was an audible growl when both Irene and Ben began laughing at him.  
“Oi, shut up. Haven’t eaten since breakfast. I skipped lunch and tea and my snacks.” He snatched the bag from her hands, feigning offence.   
“Always complaining, you. Go home and eat, ya fockin’ gobshite.” Irene winked at him.   
“Is that really how you should be speakin’ to yer boss, missy?” Hux smiled brilliantly in response to her.   
“What’re ya gonna do about it?” Irene was almost stereotypically Irish. She was fair skinned and red-headed as Hux was, but had millions more freckles than he. She was a beauty, but had to the wit and clackers of any man. Many times he would get asked if the two of them were either siblings or married. He would laugh in response to both questions.   
“I might fire yer sorry arse.” She knew he was joking, as she was one of the best employees Huck’s had ever had. If Hux had the ability to promote her to assistant manager and give her the pay raise she deserved, he would in a heartbeat. Sadly, while business was good and steady, it wasn’t enough to merit any sort of pay raise.  
“Sure ya would. Now, be off. Spend time with that laddie of yers.” Irene smiled a knowing smile at Hux that made him nervous. Ben had wandered off by this point, talking to one of the gentleman down the bar from them. Hux looked over at him and nodded his head toward the door. Ben nodded back and said goodbye to the man he was talking to. As they were headed out the door, Hux glanced over his shoulder at Irene, who was still smiling that smile, and even gave him a wink. The thought that she may be thinking they were more than friends was unsettling to Hux. But he also couldn’t ignore the way his heart was pulling him to spend more time with Ben. He groaned internally at the realization that he could most definitely, possibly, in some world have feelings for Ben Solo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is Castle by Halsey. Fitting, I think, since they went to the castle.


	3. This Is Gospel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's been a good hot minute since I updated. I have been slammed with full time school and full time job, but I'm attempting to get on a consistent writing schedule. Thank you if you are taking the time to read this <3

 

            They made their way to Hux’s house, making small talk on the walk over. It was a short walk, and once they were walking up his driveway, he began to get nervous. Had he cleaned the bathroom recently? Was there enough toilet paper? Did he leave anything weird lying about? Well, too late now, he thought to himself as he slid the key in the locked and entered his dimly lit home.

            He and Ben walked in, both kicking their shoes off in the front hallway next to the doorway. Hux led Ben into his comfortable sized kitchen and placed the paper bag down on the small table and walking to the fridge to produce two bottles of beer from the fridge. Surprisingly, it was not Guinness, but Harp Lager.

            “Wow, not Guinness draught? I was beginning to think that was an extremely accurate Irish stereotype.”

            “Oh, it is. But I’m fresh out of the black stuff. A nice lager will pair well with the fish and chips.” Hux popped the lids of the bottles and placed them on the table.

            Ben sat down at the table and pulled his phone from his pocket. “Wi-Fi?”

            “Don’t judge, but it’s ‘The Shire’ and the password is ‘atari130’.” Hux heard Ben chuckling as he spoke and started to blush.

            “Is this your hobbit hole?” Ben asked, not looking up from his phone as he typed in the password.

            “Shut up.” Hux started to unbag their food and place it in front of them, respectfully. He, once again, realized how hungry he has become when he caught a whiff of the food and he stomach growled. Thankfully, this time, it wasn’t audible.

            “My mom is going to love these pictures. When I Skyped her last night, I told her we were going up to see a castle and she was so jealous.” Ben was still smiling down at his phone.

            Hux decided he was going to start eating, and began to dig into it. He groaned as he shoved chips in his mouth. That caught Ben’s attention, who looked up wide eyed, concerning at first. His gaze softened and he chuckled again, realizing what had caused Hux’s noise.

            They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments while Ben finished his message to his mother and Hux ate. It was a very peaceful scene, not one that either of them were used to. Hux’s daily life was the bustle of the bar or the lazy days at home, not sharing space with a near stranger. Except he wasn’t a stranger. Ben was no longer a stranger to Hux. If he was being honest with himself, he had gotten close to Ben faster than any other person before. It was almost frightening to him that he opened himself up to a random guy he met at his bar, but looking at Ben across his tiny kitchen table he was never more glad he did it. He smiled to himself and looked back down to his chips.

            When Ben had finished sending his message, he locked his phone screen and set it face down on the table. Hux took that as a sign that they were going to socialize, so he sat up a little straighter. Ben had started to pick at his food, though he was more so pushing it around with the fork than actually eating it.

            “Everything alright?” Hux asked.

            “Yeah, yeah. Just feel a little homesick every time I send a message to my mom. I hope she sees the pictures soon, she wanted to put a face to the name.” He looked up and met Hux’s eyes.

            Hux thought he may get lost in the depth that was Ben’s dark brown eyes. They were so dark, they seemed to go on forever. It made his brain pause for a moment and evaluate the man in front of him. While Ben was definitely a man, being tall and broad, he had a boyish charm. His near lack of facial hair and slightly crooked teeth definitely made him seem young. It was endearing though. Only after a moment of staring, did Hux realize what Ben had said.

            “So you’ve told yer ma about me, then?” Hux smiled a dimply smile at Ben.

            “I might have. When you meet a stranger in a bar and then hang out, that’s probably something you oughta tell someone. Just in case, ya know, I get murdered.” Ben gave a lighthearted chuckle and actually began to eat rather than just push the food around.

            Hux smiled and continued to eat. They ate and drank together in a comfortable silence until they were both done, happily sated from the food and beer. Hux had grabbed them a couple more beers after they had finished their first. He picked up the empty bottles and cartons of food and disposed of them. He bustled around the kitchen for moment, unsure if he should grab them each another drink or if Ben was going to want to head back to the B&B soon, it was nearing eight in the evening.

            “So, Ben, what are your plans?” He tried to sound casual.

            “I’m thinking another beer sounds good right now.” Ben was still seated at the table, and seemed to be in not rush to get out of there. The thought made Hux smile. He obliged and got them both each another beer, opening them before handing one to Ben.

            “Thanks, man.” Ben said and took a healthy sip of his.

            “I’m really not used to being called ‘man’ regularly. I guess that’s the American equivalent to ‘mate’?” Hux had been enjoying learned some of the American slang Ben would randomly spout out, and he loved teaching Ben some Irish slang as well. Ben was rather amused at some of them.

            “Yeah, pretty much. I guess I should be more conscious of what I’m saying.” Ben took another large gulp of beer. His cheeks were getting flushed from what Hux could assume was the alcohol. Hux was starting to feel a little buzz as well.

            It had been awhile since Hux had actually drank to the point of feeling drunk, or even tipsy. The last time had probably been nearly three months ago, after a failed online date with a girl from the next town over. After several years of not dating since moving back to Arkanis, he had started to get lonely, but he knew everyone in town, so he pathetically downloaded a popular dating app and set up a sad excuse for a profile. He matched with several girls immediately, which was a lovely little boost to his ego, but the chats usually led to nowhere, except the one.

            Talking to the girl via the app for several days led him to give her his phone number and they began to text. After about a week of texting, they decided to meet up in a bar in her town. He had made sure it was all on her terms, as to not come across as a predator. That had been a mistake, because she came to the bar about an hour late, with a group of friends, already drunk looking for more free drinks. He had told her politely to shove it, and skipped out to go to another bar to get hammered. After drinking to the point of stumbling and slurring, the bartender cut him off and urged him to call a friend. He ended up phoning Rey, who, after yelling at him for a good few minutes, begrudgingly went to pick him up and drove him back home.

            Shaking off the memory, he took another gulp of beer, in an attempt to create some happier drunk memories. “So, how long are you planning to stay in Arkanis?” He meant to sound casual but as soon as the words left his mouth he realized he may sound needy. He smacked himself internally.

            “I’m not sure at this point, I ended up staying in several places longer than expected, but mostly I stuck around for a week or so.” Ben took another sip of his drink.

            “How long have you been around?”

            “Only the last few days. Though, Ireland has been more inspiring than other countries in Europe were… so I may stick around a while. I have no real plans for the future, even when I go back to the States.”

            “You wouldn’t go back to university?” Hux leaned into the table, resting his hands on his beer. He couldn’t help but be curious about Ben’s future, even though it truly was not his business.

            Ben shook his head, making the mop of hair swing. “Nah, it was really never for me. It’s not like it can help my art, and that’s really all I want to do.”

            “How does yer ma feel about yer travelling?”

            “She loves it, honestly. She was always better on her own anyway, not having to take care of anything, she’s a really busy lady. My dad travelled a lot when they were first married; he didn’t settle down until I was born.”

            “Well that’s good, it’s always easier to move about when you know your family is gonna be just fine.” Hux said, remembering the fight with his dad, before university, once more.

            “Yeah…” Ben finished off the last bit of his beer. He sounded like he wanted to say more but he just sat there, staring into his now empty bottle.

            “You alright, mate?”

            “Yeah, yeah. I’m good. Just thinking.” Ben sighed deeply, looking more melancholy than Hux had seen him. Granted, he had only known him for three days.

            “Well that’s dangerous.” Hux teased.

            Ben cracked a small smile and looked up to meet Hux’s eyes. The look stirred Hux’s stomach down to his groin. Ben had an intoxicating smile, with the small crinkles around his eyes and the dimples he had on both cheeks. When he smiled wider, it showed his slightly crooked teeth behind his plush lips, which made him even more endearing. He was such a naturally stoic looking man, but when he smiled he lit up.

            “You have Netflix, and maybe some more beer?” Ben stood up and grabbed their empty bottles and walked to the end of counter where he had seen Hux put the empties a little while ago.

            Hux stood quickly to grab a couple more beers from the fridge, realizing as he grabbed them that his head was beginning to swim a little bit. He tried his best to ignore it as he closed the fridge and walked with Ben over to his living room, where he had a decent sized sectional couch. They both flopped down rather clumsily due to their inebriated state. Hux scrambled for a moment to locate the remote which had fallen into the cushions from his last Netflix binging session.

            “Anything in particular you wanna watch?” Hux turned on the television and opened up Netflix. He scrolled aimlessly while waiting for Ben to answer.

            “How about something funny? A comedian?” Ben studied the TV as he scrolled through to comedy category. “Oh! Bo Burnham? I love him.”

            “Never seen it.” Hux selected it and read the description. “Wanna watch it?”

            “Yeah, you’ll like it, I think.” Ben took a sip of beer and settled further into the couch, getting comfortable.

            Hux looked over at Ben, who was snuggled into a throw pillow, sipping his beer, looking genuinely happy and he felt a small tug on his heart. It had only been three days but he felt a strong connection to be, and seeing that smile plastered on Ben’s face only stirred the subtle feelings he thought he was feeling earlier. It was starting to become an internal struggle for him. He had never had romantic feelings for anyone other than a female, which was not the problem. The problem was, if he actually had feelings for Ben, that he had no way to gauge in they were reciprocated and the unavoidable heart break of Ben leaving back to the States sooner rather than later.

            “You gonna play it or just zone out for another minute?” Ben chuckled, bringing Hux back to reality.

            “Oh shite, ya, sorry.” He flushed as he apologized, hitting play with the remote.

            They sat, content with the comedy special, for the hour it was on. At certain points, they were laughing so hard the Hux’s stomach began to hurt. It was nice to focus all his attention on something happy, albeit dark humor, rather than the depressing probable feelings burning inside of him. Every so often, though, he would sneak a peek over at Ben who was focused on the TV, smiling, drinking and laughing, like nothing else mattered in those moments. If Hux lingered too long, he would shake his head, attempting to rid himself of the intrusive thoughts. Though, as the night trekked on and they drank another beer, his brain was fogging more and his thoughts betrayed. As the special was coming to an end, Hux felt himself leaning slightly toward Ben as his eyes grew heavy. Being nearly drunk, he did nothing to stop himself.

            By the end of the show, he was resting his head on the pillow that Ben was snuggling with, eyes closed. He was nearly asleep when he felt himself shaking slightly. His eyes fluttered opened and he looked up into Ben’s dreamy eyes.

            “You need to head to bed, man. You are looking exhausted. It’s been a long day.” Ben shook Hux again, as he had let his eyes close once more. “Or just fall asleep here.” Ben chuckled and attempted to remove himself from underneath the pillow, so Hux could fully utilize it for his head.

            As Ben moved, Hux involuntarily said, “No.” He felt a very brief wave of embarrassment, that lasted one second before he was drifting back asleep.

 

 

            Hux awoke suddenly, startled by a painful cramp forming in his neck. He reached up to rub it, when the back of his hand brushed against a solid object that was most definitely not a cushion. Without moving too much, he turned his head slightly, mostly using his peripheral vision, to spot Ben asleep, sitting up, next to him. Hux realized that he had been using Ben as a pillow and, much to his surprise, Ben had stayed in that position, and even fallen asleep himself. He smiled and closed his eyes again, feeling the warmth radiating off of Ben’s solid shoulder, content to just fall right back asleep. His eyes shot back open when he thought of how uncomfortable Ben would be in the morning if he stayed in that position all night. So, much to Hux’s dismay, he shook Ben to wake him up.

            He heard a groan rumble deep in Ben’s chest, a protest to waking up. Hux shook him again and Ben awoke with a start.

            “What time is it?” Ben asked, his already deep voice even more gravely from sleep.

            Hux peaked at his phone to check the time. “It’s a little hard 3 am, mate. Do you wanna ride back to the B&B, or do you wanna crash in the guest room?” Hux silently prayed for the latter.

            “Guest room.” Ben mumbled, rubbing his sleep filled eyes.

            “Get up then.” Hux stood and grabbed Ben’s arm to assist him up. Ben grunted and groan as he rose from the couch. “Follow me.” Hux released his arm and started down the hall to the guest room.

            It really was not much of a room in terms of décor, but it had a fully prepared bed, an alarm clock, and simple dresser where a TV sat on top. He showed Ben in, making sure Ben would be all settled and letting him know the bathroom was just the door right across the hall, before heading to his own room, closing the guest door behind him. His room was across the hall and down one door, next to the bathroom. He did not bother brushing his hair or teeth, deciding to just strip to his underpants and crawl into bed. His neck instantly felt better from the comfort of his down pillows.

            As his mind was winding down, his thoughts inevitably drifted to the man in the other room. It had been a long time since he had shared the company of someone like this, being so close and even sharing his home with someone. It was a nice, comforting feeling to him. He had enjoyed Ben’s company the last few days he had known him, and even though it was such a short amount of time, he found himself beginning to grow upset at the thought of Ben leaving. While he knew it was temporary, he really did not want the day to come when Ben would eventually tell him he was leaving, and that it would be last he would ever see of the mysterious Ben Solo.

            He pushed those thoughts out of his mind to focus on the happier ones, the best he could. He thought back to the pictures they took, and how those would be around forever. The deep conversations they had about family and careers and passions would stick in his mind forever. He knew he could never shake the effect of Ben and he did not want to. With a smile on his face, Hux finally drifted off to sleep, where the same man would fill his dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title is This Is Gospel by Panic! At The Disco 
> 
> also, Hux's wifi is seriously what my dad made our wifi while I was in high school. I love my family of nerds!


	4. Faded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been a hot minute since I updated and that is because I'm a busy human. And I get distracted with other writing thingys I do. But this was honestly a favorite chapter of mine to write. It just flowed out of me and it is a lot of feelings but I love it.   
> Tis a wee angsty at the end, but we love a good angsty Hux right?

            Hux awoke to the disgusting feeling of cotton mouth and the vague throbbing in the back of his head. He sat up in his bed, looking at the light pouring in from his window and then instantly regretted that. Rolling his eyes dramatically, he flopped back onto his pillow, letting out a sigh. Resolving to finally get up, he rolled out of bed, grabbed for a loose pair of pajama pants and made his way into his on suite bathroom. He filled the cup next to the sink halfway full of water and grabbed a couple pills from the bottle in his cabinet. He swallowed them down and looked at his pasty reflection in the mirror, flinching at how haggard he was looking.

            As he was poking at his under eye bags, a wonderful smell wafted into the room. It was definitely bacon. It took him a minute to remember Ben had stayed in his guest bedroom and was most likely in Hux’s kitchen cooking breakfast up for them. Unless a burglar broke in and decided to fry up some bacon. Unlikely.

            Hux walked out of his bathroom, grabbed the nearest shirt laying on the chair beside his closet door and threw it on. He did a smell check really quick to make sure it did not reek of alcohol or body odor; it did not. He made his way out through the small hallway and into the kitchen, where he was greeted by Ben standing at his stove, pushing some eggs around in a pan.

            “You really didn’t have to do that, mate.” Hux leaned against the wall, just watching Ben for a moment.

            “I figured it was the least I could.” Ben shrugged and made to turn off the burner. He grabbed the two plates he had already set out and distributed the eggs and bacon between the them.

            Hux made his way over to the small table, where Ben was taking the plates of breakfast. He caught a whiff and he could feel his stomach screaming at him for some food. He was suddenly very thankful that Ben had cooked, as he knew he would not have felt like it this morning.

            “What if I had still been sleeping?” Hux asked as he sat down and immediately grabbed a fork. He shoved a mouthful of the eggs in his mouth and savagely bit into a slice of bacon.

            “I probably would have taken it into your room and shoved it right up under your nose. I did not struggle with that stupid gas stove just for you to sleep through breakfast.” Ben chuckled as he watched Hux shovel his food in. “So…” Ben casually continued on, not touching his food yet. “What are our plans for today?”

            Hux nearly choked on his food when Ben spoke. _Their plans?_ He felt a thrill run through his body at the idea of making plans with Ben a second day in a row. He swallowed the bite of food he had in his mouth before he responded. “Um, well, what would ya like to do? Not too much in this area, to be sure.”

            “Well, you mentioned yesterday going on a drive. We could do that, if you don’t have anything else to do today…” Ben seemed to hesitate, as he picked up his forked to finally eat his own food. It appeared as if he was almost unsure if Hux wanted to keep hanging out with him.

            “Sounds like a grand idea, though I’m going to need a shower first. I’m quite stinky right now.” Hux spoke after he had demolished the plate of eggs and bacon.

            “Well, you go do that while I eat my food, since you’re already done.” Ben chuckled, putting another bite in his mouth.

            Hux stood and placed the dirty plate and fork in the sink, nodded at Ben before he retreated back to his bedroom and shut the door. Once he was in the comfort of his room, he let out a long, deep breath he realized he had been holding for a good minute. He made his way to his bathroom, stripping off his shirt, throwing it back on the chair he grabbed it from, and letting his pajama bottoms and pants pool at his feet before he kicked them off and threw them in the pile of dirty clothes next to the chair. The piled had been staring at him for the past week and he knew he needed to do laundry soon. His least favorite chore.

            He padded into the bathroom, enjoying the cool tile floor on his bare feet. He made his way to the shower and turned the handle to the hottest it could go, as the house was a wee bit older and the water heater did not heat the water as well as it had used to. Another thing he added to his mental to do, which he tries to be diligent about, but usually getting distracted with work. Work was his life.

            Once the water was as hot as he knew it would get, he stepped in, relaxing immediately under the lukewarm spray on his tired, aching muscles. The walking around yesterday had done a number on him, and he knew that meant he really needed to get out more. The ache in his body reminded him of the good memories of the day before; the running from the rain, the aesthetic photos, all the wonderful conversation. All in all, it had been an absolutely wonderful day and he was hoping that today would turn out just as wonderful.

            He thought through what activities they could get up to today as he took his bottle of shampoo off the shelf, poured a generous amount on his hand and begun to massage it into his hair. His ginger locks had been getting a bit out of control at the moment. It had probably been over two months since getting a casual trimming, meaning his hair was flopping in his face and he was having to do the classic punk hair flipping. He didn’t mind the style but he knew it made him look younger than he really was and that was not the appearance he wanted to portray, being a business man and whatnot.

            He rinsed his hair and thought about where they could get off to today. He was thinking about driving Ben out into the country to take photos of other castles and dilapidated structures he would probably like. Maybe if they got going soon he could take him to the cliffs and they could watch the crashing waves. That was always like therapy to Hux. He remembered back to the death of his father, when he came back down from university. After the funeral, he had driven out to the cliffs, even though it was nearing nighttime by the time he got there, and sat on the hood of his car throughout the entire night, hearing the waves breaking over and over. It had calmed down all the nerves he had felt. He knew Ben would appreciate the same way he did. Maybe he could even get Ben to draw the view for him.

            He was finished up when he heard a loud banging. “What ya want?” He shouted out as he finished rinsing his body and turned the water off.

            “What are you doing in there? You have taken nearly half an hour, dude!” Hux could hear the humor in Ben’s voice as his muffled shouting reached him through the door.

            “Hush up, I’m almost done.” Hux chuckled, reaching for the fluffy towel hung next to the shower door. He shook his head into it as he towel-dried his hair, then proceeded to pat the rest of his body dry. Once he satisfied, he wrapped the towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom to his closet. He grabbed pants from a drawer and slid them on, disposing of the towel onto his designated clothing chair. Deciding today called for casual wear once again, he grabbed dark jeans and a basic grey t-shirt and threw them on. He slid on clean socks and reached for where his usual hoodie was, but realized it was out in the living where he had fallen asleep last night. He gave himself a once over, shaking his long hair in the mirror, making sure it was laying down the proper way since it was still wet.

            He realized he had been taking quite a long time, so he nearly bolted out of the room as soon as he was done his inspection. He found Ben in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, scrolling through his phone. He looked up as he heard Hux come into the room and smiled. That smile made Hux’s heart jump into his throat. How could this near stranger affect him so much? How could he feel things for someone in such a short amount of time? And, dear god, what was he evening feeling.

            “Ready, mate?” Hux said, grabbing his messenger bag off the chair and walking to the door to slip on his worn down, beloved Converse. He would most likely have to invest in a new pair or two soon but he loved the aesthetic of the worn and loved look, especially paired with his dark jeans.

            Ben was on his heels, slipping on his own shoes and following Hux out the door. A weird sensation came over him when he watched Ben close the door to his home behind him and then follow him to his beloved Audi. It nearly felt like a dream. Shaking off the new feeling, he unlocked the doors and they climbed in the sleek, black car.

            “God damn. This is so sweet, man.” Ben immediately began checking the interior of the car out, fiddling with the buttons on the console and feeling the dash with his hands. He was truly appreciating the full black interior of the car. Hux felt his chest swelling with pride as he watched the fascination and awe on the man’s face. He rubbed and patted his steering wheel a couple times and smiled.

            “She is my pride and joy.” Hux inserted his key and started her up. He saw Ben close his eyes when he heard the purr of the engine coming to life. Just one look at this guy and you could tell her appreciated cars. Hux could not relate to that, as he really only loved the car for the look. He knew Audi’s were good cars but he was never one to look into the specs and details of the engine and performance. He knew once he was done with university he wanted his dream car and he got it. From working through school, he had saved up enough to put a hefty down payment on it and financed the rest. From taking on the bar after his father’s death, he was able to pay it off in just a couple years.

            “Holy shit. I feel like I’m too poor to even sit in this.” Ben chuckled and fastened his seatbelt.

            “Mate, we’re going two minutes away, I doubt you need your safety belt.” Hux chuckled, put the car in reverse and backed out of his small gravel drive. When he was out on the cobblestone road, he threw it in drive. It took just over a minute to drive the less than a kilometer to the B&B. When they got there, Hux parked in front of the large, yellow building, feeling odd about having driven there. They got out and Hux made sure to lock the car. Twice.

            When they entered, the small bell above the door sounded and he heard a sweet voice not a second later. “One minute, dear.” He smiled immediately at Rey’s cheerful sounding call.

            “It’s rude to make people wait, you arse.” He called back, making his way to the kitchen where he knew she was.

            “Well, if I had known it was you, my love, I would have said ‘piss off’.” She laughed as she pulled him into a brief hug. Spotting the large man trailing behind Hux, she smiled. “Well, Mr. Solo, I wondered where you’d gone off to. Did you gents have a good day yesterday?”

            “It was so amazing. This is a beautiful place. And I can’t wait to see more today.” Ben smiled down at Rey, who continued to smile a beautiful, genuine smile back at him.

            “More today? Where you going?” She leaned back against one of the counters and crossed her arms over her chest. Her smile looked like she was going to burst. Hux was immediately suspicious toward her demeanor.

            “Hux is taking us driving, said he has a few special spots to show me.” Ben turned his smile to Hux, who returned it and nodded.

            Hux thought he was going to explode if all this smiling did not cease immediately. He forced the expression to remain on his face until Ben dismissed himself to shower and change before they headed back out.

            As soon as Rey heard the water running from the upstairs, she crossed the room to Hux and got in his personal space. He frowned down at her and took a step back.

            “What?” He asked, sharply. He had a feeling what she was going to say.

            “You and Ben?” That was all she said, her arms still crossed over her chest. There was no smile on her face anymore. Only concern.

            “What about us?” He averted his eyes from her, trying to focus on something in the room other than her soft, concerned expression. It was making him feel uneasy.

            “I’m just going to be blunt, since we’ve been friends for quite some time. Do you like Ben?” She remained in his space.

            “He’s a good guy, funny, friendly. Yeah, we’re buddies now. Of course I like him.” Hux danced around the question, pretending to be oblivious to the real meaning.

            “Cut the shit, Armie. You know damn well what I mean. I have never seen you so smitten.” She uncrossed her arms and laid a small, gentle hand on his shoulder. “But I’ve also never seen you smitten with a guy before…”

            Hux felt defeated suddenly; he knew he could not lie to Rey. She was his best friend and he definitely needed to get a few things off his chest. He valued her advice and opinions. He inhaled deeply, preparing to speak out loud thoughts he had only begun to have and hardly understood himself.

            He exhaled and spoke. “There is just something about him. He’s truly not like anyone I’ve ever known, and I know I sound absolutely bat-shit when I say that because I’ve only known him for, like, less than a week but I can’t help it. I didn’t understand it at first, I never felt… a pull, so to speak, towards men, but then I saw him. I thought I just was lonely at first. But it’s deeper than that.” He realized his hands were shaking as he spoke. Rey noticed as well and took his in her own and held them there.

            “Dear, feelings, no matter how strong or how sudden are always important and valid. You can fall as deeply as you want, no one in the world can judge you. And you don’t need to put yourself in a box. You like Ben, not necessarily men.” She rubbed her thumb over the side of his hand, which did help calm him a bit.

            “But what’s the point, Rey? He’s just traveling. He told me he hasn’t stayed in one place for more than a couple weeks at a time and he’s already been here almost a week.” He felt another wave of defeat wash over him. This time it was accompanied by a sharp pain in his chest. It felt as if his heart was literally breaking. It was safe to say, he did, in fact, like Ben Solo; he liked him more than he even realized.

            Rey’s face fell as she understood why Hux was hesitant about his feelings. “Oh, sweet Armie, is that any reason not to pursue- “

            “You guys okay?” Hux heard a deep voice from the doorway of the kitchen. His eyes shot up, meeting Ben’s, who was stood there looking at the scene in front of him, with concern in his eyes. It intensified the pain in Hux’s chest to see Ben after finally admitting out loud what he had been internalizing for a couple days.

            Rey patted Hux’s hand before releasing her grip on his still shaking fingers. “Of course, love. Just a deep moment between two deep souls. Nothing major.” She smiled a small smile at Ben, who quirked up one side of his lips in return.

            Hux forced a small chuckle out. He was trying his best to control his emotions right now and not expose the hurt he felt stabbing at him. Embarrassment overcoming him as well, with the realization that he had fallen for a man within four days of knowing him. He was obviously a hopeless romantic and was beginning to feel like some twisted version of a Nicholas Sparks novel. A terrible, D-list, knockoff romance novel, actually.

            “Ready for that ride now?” Ben asked and Rey nearly choked. She stifled another laughter, shooting a glance at Hux, who was staring daggers at her now. Of course, Ben would say something like that at this moment. Hux could not deny the irony and softened his gaze at Rey. They both began to laugh, leaving Ben staring at them in confusion. “I clearly missed something here.” He sighed and smiled.

            “Let’s get on now, mate.” He said, smiling and starting to walk out of Rey’s kitchen.

            “Have fun on your _ride_ , boys!” Rey called as they were leaving, chuckling to herself as they closed the door behind them.

            Hux and Ben got in the car and began their small adventure. Hux considered himself a fairly decent driver. He was not one to be super adventurous, taking turns at 120kph or anything, but he liked to go fast and he definitely knew the roads. Him and Ben were making small talk while driving along the curvy roads through the countryside. Occasionally, they would get quiet and just enjoy the soft music of the radio. Ben would also pull out his phone to snap photos whenever Hux was driving slow enough. At one point, Ben asked Hux to stop so he could get out and take a photo of a line of trees on the horizon. While Hux did not see anything significant about the sight, Ben was very interested so, of course, Hux obliged. Once they got back in the car, they began talking about Ben’s art some more.

            After about an hour of talking, laughing, and driving, they arrived at the first stop Hux wanted to show Ben. It was a small field, off a gravel road which was off the main road. It was not a well-known spot, but Hux had discovered it one day when he just needed to get away. In the field was a small stone structure, about the height of Ben but only several feet in diameter. It was unclear what the structure may have been at one point, but Hux always suspected some sort of altar or something of that nature. He liked this area because around the structure was a ring of stones, that could be used for sitting. He plopped down on a stone and began to watch Ben circle around the structure, examining it and taking photos.

            “I feel like all I do when I go outside here is take pictures. I always have my damn phone in my hand. I’m clearly obsessed.” Ben was smiling and kneeling next to the stones.

            “I guess I would be too, but I’ve been coming here a couple years. It’s a lovely get away spot. It’s far enough out of town that even if I saw people here, it would never be people I know. Hardly anyone from the village ventures out of it.” Hux picked up a small stone and fiddled with it as he spoke.

            “Do you escape from the village often?” Ben came over and sat on a stone near Hux.

            “I like to take drives, go on my own small adventures when I can. I work nearly every day though. Sometimes seven days a week. I don’t usually have time to get away.”

            “Do you enjoy working?”

            “Actually, I found I do. When I first started on my own after da, I was so overwhelmed, I considered selling. It was so much work and I was grieving and I always couldn’t do it. But one day, miss ‘ol Breeland came up for a drink, she knew my da and my grandda. I was struggling with one of the taps and apologizing for fockin’ the whole thing up. She told me to sit and gave me a real good talkin’ to. She told me I was doing the best I could and that da would be proud, lookin down on me and to stop second guessing myself. It was the connection with her, someone who knew me since I was a boy that pushed me to actually do it. That was my biggest struggle. I love managing and I’ve always wanted to be my own boss, but I was scared I was going to struggle with the people. That I’d never live up to my family.” Hux surprised himself with how much he was opening up to Ben.

            “I understand that feeling. Everyone in my family had different expectations for me, and I do not live up to a single one of them. My dad was the only one who tried to understand me, and he barely did. I think you’re a great business man, Hux. Honestly, you’re just a great man.” Ben’s compliment struck the same nerve in his heart he felt earlier. He did not know if he should take it the way he wanted to, or if Ben was just being a nice friend.

            Ben placed his hand on Hux’s knee, which startled Hux. He jerked his head up to look into Ben’s eyes. They stared intensely at each other for a moment, before Hux shot up from his stone and announced that they should move on to the next sight before it started to get dark. He did this more so that he would not make a dumb move on Ben. It would be massively disappointing to try something, only to be rejected and then have to drive them back awkwardly to town.

            They made their way back to the car and drove in content silence to the last place Hux wanted to show him, which was the cliff side where they could sit on the hood and just chat. He was happy they were going to get there while it was still light out, so they could enjoy the view as the sun set. The water was always beautiful with the warm colors of the fading light against it. He had always loved sunset and the orangey hue it gave the world; he liked that it matched his hair.

            As they were approaching the area, he let Ben know, who pulled his phone out of his pocket at the ready. He drove up as close to the edge as he felt comfortable and put the car in park. He pulled the emergency break up for good measure. It was a cliff side. Ben got out and immediately hurried close to the edge to take in the view. As Hux got out, closing his own door, he caught a glimpse of Ben, who looked so at peace with the world in this moment. A smile spread across Hux’s face, knowing he was the cause of such joy in Ben. He walked up beside Ben and took in the sight as well. It wasn’t the most breathtaking view in the entire world, but it was such a natural beauty he couldn’t help but love it more than any other sight he had ever seen. The harsh water below broke sharply against the jutting rocks, creating a soft, but unstable ambience.  The sun had already begun to set on the horizon, creating the soft orange and pink hues he loved so much.

            Looking next to him, he saw Ben taking in the sight amidst taking photos of it. Hux saw him taking bursts of pictures and then switching angles or tilting the phone or moving it an inch this way or that. It was mesmerizing to watch his process of getting the perfect picture. It made him want to pull out his own phone and snap some pictures of Ben enjoying the view. And he decided to do just that, thinking Ben’s mother would want to see how happy he was and how beautiful the places he was visiting were. So he grabbed his phone from his pocket, took a few steps away from Ben to get most of his body in the frame and begin snapping away. Ben did not notice at first, but when he looked over at Hux, a huge smile spread across his face, which Hux was easily able to capture. Ben pointed his own phone at Hux, who immediately protested but gave into it after a few teases from Ben.

            They remained there till the sun was fully set and then moon was high in the sky above them, casting the most ominous light on the scene. The could barely make out where the water was and decided it was about time to get on home. They hopped off the hood of the car and settled into the seats. It had gotten somewhat nippy out, so Hux turned the heat in the car on low as they made the small journey home. This time it was more quiet, though it was a content silence. Neither of them felt like they had to speak to fill the air, they were just enjoying the others company.

            As soon as Hux saw the town appearing in front of them, he felt his stomach knot up. At some point on the drive home he had made a resolution to himself. When he dropped Ben off, he would tell the man something. He could not let Ben leave the town, hell, leave Ireland, without telling him what an impact he made on Hux, and how he will be sad to see him go. Seeing the town come in to sight, he realized this conversation would be sooner rather than later. The feeling intensified as they drove into town and he parked in front of the B&B. He turned off the car and took a deep breath. He looked over at Ben, who was already staring at him.

            He turned his head quickly away and got out of the car. He was suddenly very warm. As he made his way over to the other side of the car, Ben had gotten out and was standing there, leaning against his door.

            _Okay, now or never_. He thought to himself. He opened his mouth to speak and nothing came out. Now that the moment was here, he could not form the words in his brain that he needed to say out loud to this man. Ben looked at him with concern and pushed off the car to get closer to him.

            “Are you okay, Hux?” Ben asked, sounding genuinely concerned. This warmed Hux even more and Ben was right there in front of him. His face less than a foot away from Hux’s. And Hux made a very dumb decision, in that moment.

            In a rush, he closed the small distance between them by gently pressing his lips to Ben’s. He did not move his lips at all, just planted them on Ben’s. As soon as he did it, he pulled back, staring at Ben who was looking straight at Hux with wide eyes. _Not a good sign_. He thought.

            “Um, sorry.” Hux stuttered out, voice cracking with the tears he was holding back.

            “Hux…” Ben blinked several times and took a step away from Hux.

            _Really not a good sign_. “Yeah, um, good night, Ben.” Hux rushed and got back in his car and just drove away. It was the longest minute to his house he had ever experience and when he was in his driveway, he let out a breath he realized he had been holding in. Along with the shaky breath, came the flood of tears. How could he fuck up so bad? Ben was a good guy and a good friend and he had just ruined a chance at continued friendship for one stupid kiss.

            The tears came hot and fast, out of his control completely. He wished he could be stronger, not crying over some man who did not feel the same way about him. He wished he was more embarrassed about actually kissing him, but he was not. He was embarrassed about how he felt so quickly. Who cares if it was a guy, and who cares if he was rejected? He was concerned that he had fallen too quickly and it was his own fault he was hurt now.

            He used the back of hand to wipe away the tears on his cheeks and found the motivation to get out of the car, slumping up into his house. As soon as he was inside, he kicked off his shoes and made straight for his bed. He knew he had the opening shift tomorrow and he might as well get sleep while he is already emotionally exhausted. He stripped down to his boxers, not bothering to find clothes to sleep in. He groaned when he checked the time. It was barely even nine at night, but he was already done with life for the day. Crawling into bed, he pulled the covers up to his chin and wrapped himself in the warm comfort of his duvet. The comfort of it made him smile, but he still felt the salty burn in his eyes from tears.

            _Fuckin hell_ , was his last thought before he drifted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! It means a lot to me! Please absolutely feel free to leave a comment, whether you loved or hated it, and give it a nice little kudos! 
> 
> The title is Faded by Alan Walker. (I connect to this song so much, it pushes me through a lot.) 
> 
> Love you, gorgeous honeybees! <3


	5. I Fall Apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in love this one honestly. I love my Hux in this one and I'm so happy others love him too.   
> I have been obsessively writing this one in all my spare time, even at work.   
> I hope you all enjoy a little more of Hux's work life, some bartenders and lovely Ben at the end!  
> Thanks to any and all who read! <3

            For the second morning in a row, he wakes up with a throbbing head. Though, this morning it is not accompanied with the pleasant memories of a small buzz with Ben, but rather the burn of salt from dried tears in his eyes. The literal sting of rejection. Along with the burn of salt in his eyes, the sun was streaming in through his window in the most perfect way to hit his eye, doing absolutely nothing to help his head. And if the bright sunny day wasn’t enough to destroy his mood, there were birds chirping. Loudly.

            He groaned and threw his arm over his eyes in an attempt to block the sun even further, but after the realization of work hit him, he shot up in bed. It had dawned on him that he had not set his alarms and he was probably due at the pub any minute now. He patted around the bed for a solid thirty seconds before finding his phone tangled in the sheet under his pillow. The time read 11:43AM.  He groaned and threw himself back down onto his pillows. It was a good thing he was the boss and if he showed up late no one would bat an eye, since he was definitely not making it in seventeen minutes.

            Forcing himself to get out of bed, he shuffled to the bathroom and turned on the water. While the shower warmed up, he stared into the bathroom mirror. Well, he doesn’t look like hell, even if he feels it, so that’s a good thing. He pokes at his skin and tousles his hair a bit before picking up his toothbrush and actually making good use of his time. As soon as he finished his teeth, he stripped his pants off and stepped into the scalding shower. The water hitting his back felt incredibly cleansing. He scrubs a little harder and takes a little longer in the shower than normal, attempting to feel more normal. Once he was clean and pink from the heat, he stepped out and grabs his towel. He quickly towel dries his hair and then wraps the fluffy towel around his waist to pad out into his room to get dressed.

            In continuation in his attempt to feel normal, he dons his usual work ensemble. Today his choices are a blue button up long sleeve shirt, black skinny jeans (that are not too tight), and his work Converse, which were classic black and white and cleaner than his everyday pair. He decides to skip the usual skinny tie, though, as not to feel too overdone. Once he is dressed and his hair is laying the way he likes, he steps into the main living area of his house to grab his messenger bag, which makes its home at his kitchen table. He grabs it, but realizes that it is much heavier than usual. He peers in it to see Ben’s thick sketchbook and pencil case inside. It would be his luck that Ben would forget that, creating an awkward encounter after the kiss from last night.

            The sketchbook makes him remember the kiss, though he tried very hard all morning to push it out of his mind. It brings back the hurt and sting of rejection he had felt and decided to just leave the book and pencils on his kitchen table to he didn’t have to stare at them all day in his bag. He checks the time once more. 12:26PM. It was definitely time for him to get going, knowing his opening bartender would start to get swamped in another hour and he would have to help him out. He headed out of his house, locking the door behind him and making his way up the street to the bar.

            As he walks up his drive and sees his car he is taken back to the memories of last night and the joy he had felt with Ben. It pulls at his heart a little, remembering Ben’s smiles at the cliffs he had shown him, and all the photos they had taken that Hux knew he would never delete. Whether or not he was rejected, spending time with Ben had made him happy and he would treasure the memories forever. He tried once again to push the thoughts from his head, but with little success.

            The walk to the bar didn’t help, as he remembered the last few walks he had taken, which, no surprise, were with Ben. In just the few short days that Hux had known him, it felt weird to not be spending time with him. Hux couldn’t say he had ever been in love with anyone, not even his most serious girlfriend during university, which still only lasted less than a year. He was always more of a casual fling person, dating someone for a couple weeks and then moving onto something else. He was never disrespectful though, as most of the people he was with felt the same way. They only wanted a temporary, fun fling rather than a long term serious relationship. Hux didn’t even know if he was relationship type. But, then again, he didn’t realize he liked men either, until Ben. Or was it just Ben. He groaned out loud at the annoyance he felt toward his complicated feelings.

            He continued to think as he walked down the worn cobblestone road toward the bar. His thoughts consumed him and before he knew it, he was entering the bar, which was not nearly as crowded as he would have thought for that time of day. He expected the normal lunch rush to have started, but it appeared as if that was not going to happen today. He only saw two tables of people and maybe three at the bar. What a slow day.

            He made his way around the bar, nodding and smiling to Dopheld, his opening bartender, as he made his way to the kitchen and into his office. He closed the door behind him and shrunk into his beloved office chair. In the rush to get ready and leave, he had forgotten to eat. Much to his dismay, he rose from his chair to make his way out to the kitchen. He walked around, talking to the kitchen staff, checking up on everyone as he went around before asking the cook if he would mind terribly whipping up some ham, eggs and toast from him. The cook was happy to help out, telling him it would be about ten minutes. Hux smiled and thanked him, before heading out to the bar to see how to Dopheld was doing.

            “Hey buddy, how was it this mornin’?” Hux asked, clapping Dop on the back. The action must have startled the smaller man, as he jumped and nearly dropped the glass he was holding.

            “Whoa, Arm, gave me a start there.” Dop laughed and set the glass down. He grabbed the inventory clipboard to hand to Hux. “It was a good mornin’, we’re a wee bit slow if ya can’t tell, though.”

            “I see tat. Is there something goin’ on around town today?”

            “Maz’s got some special goin’ today. Two fer one cocktails during happy hour. Which her happy hour is all damn day.” Dop began wiping down the counter just for something to do as Hux looked over the papers he needed to.

            “Well, I oughta get some paper work done while were slow today. When does Fasma come in?” Hux pulled his phone out to look at the time. Almost one in the afternoon.

            “She comes in at three and I’ll be outta here by four if that’s no problem?”

            “Absolutely mate. I have a feeling it’ll be a slow one all day.” Hux left Dop to go get some administrative work done in the office. He would take advantage of the extra help till he needed to be out on the floor behind the bar. Fasma would be fine, but she would leave at about eleven tonight and that’s when he would need to be out and about. He was not looking forward to that. Grumpy old gents and their Guinness were a force to be reckoned with, and he did not know if he was in the right mood for that today.

           

            What felt like years later of paperwork only ended up being about nine hours. He had been sitting in the office all day, doing payroll, inventory, scrolling through Facebook occasionally when his brain couldn’t handle all the numbers on the screen anymore. He purposefully avoided Ben’s page when he did his Facebook stalking. Every few hours he would get up to stretch his legs and walk around, talking to what little customers they got today and making sure Dop and Fasma were alright. Of course they were, they were great bartenders and could manage the lunch and dinner rushes themselves. Though, today there wasn’t much of a rush during either period.

            Once ten thirty rolled around closed down what he was doing in the back and packed his bag. He was trying to make sure everything would be good to go as soon as he locked up the bar in a few hours. He had a feeling he would get to close up early today, as long as no one stuck around.

            He made his way out to the bar, where Fasma was shaking and straining a cocktail into a glass. Hux watched her for a moment, being the control freak he was. She was going great though, as she served the drink to a woman at the bar with a smile on her face. After she gave the woman her drink, she turned her attention to Hux, who came over to begin closing down her till.

            “You ready to get outta here, girl?” He asked her as he took the drawer out of the register.

            “You betcha, I have a date with a glass of chardonnay and the new episode of Game of Thrones.” She spoke with her very crisp and clear English accent. She and Hux both chuckled as she began to work on what closing duties she could do while the bar was still open. Hux had her wiping the bottles behind the bar, restocking the fridges with wine, beers and spirits, emptying the two bus bins of dishes that had accumulated over the past couple hours. She scurried around doing her duties while Hux counted the money.

            As he flipping through bills, he heard the bell of the door ding. As he had his back to the door, he quickly shouted “Be right there, mate.” before returning to counting. He figured that whoever was coming in this late was a regular and wouldn’t mind waiting a few minutes till he was done. Fasma, who had been in the kitchen emptying the last bin, came back out as Hux was finishing up. The drawn was perfect, as always with her.

            “Gimme a minute and I’ll meet you in the office to cash you out.” Hux placed the drawer back in the till and finally turned around to greet the customer who had walked in. He looked around for a second before his eyes glazed over a dark mass in the corner, staring straight at him.

            Ben was here.

            Hux’s eyes widen at the sight of him, but he quickly attempted to school his face since Fasma was standing right there. Ben’s eyes did not leave Hux, even as his expression changed back to normal and he turned around to face Fasma.

            “Actually, let’s do that now, before I forget.” Hux hurried through the kitchen into the office. He grabbed the drawer of money kept in the safe out of it and cashed Fasma out. As he counted out her money, she stared at him, clearly sensing there was something occurring between him and Ben.

            “You okay, love?” She asked him, placing a perfectly manicured hand on his shoulder in comfort. “You seem distressed by that man.”

            “I’m alright. I think.” He placed the drawer back in the safe and locked it up, handing Fasma her money for the evening.

            “If you say so, dear. Just let me know if you need anything else, but I’ll see you tomorrow, boss.” She gave his shoulder a light squeeze before removing her hand and making her way out of office.

            He knew he would have to go out there to face Ben, but he was not sure if he was mentally prepared to fake that. It took him a second before he worked up the courage to go out there. Even if it was fake courage. He stood from his desk and made his way through the kitchen, back out to the bar. A quick survey of the room showed there were only a total of three people in the entire bar. He wished, for once, that they would have been slammed so he would have an excuse to not talk to Ben.

            Ben’s head shot up as he soon as he noticed Hux come back out to the bar. He lifted his hand and gave small wave, which Hux returned with a weak smile. Before he ever got to Ben, he grabbed a glass and filled it with another perfect pour of Guinness. The head was the perfect height and foam and he was damn proud of himself.  He walked the drink over to Ben and sat it down, trying to not making eye contact.

            “Hux…” Ben started. He made no move to continue his thought though.

            “Mr. Solo, Guinness, I presume. You really seem to enjoy it the last couple times.” Hux feigned a peppy customer service voice that every bartender or server possessed.

            Ben looked hurt by the attitude Hux had adopted during their interaction. He grabbed his glass and took a long sip of the beer. “Can we please talk?” He asked after he had swallowed his sip.

            “In a bit, yeah, maybe. Gotta make sure my other guests are satisfied.” He gave Ben a cheeky wink, an odd attempt to make everything seem casual and normal. He pushed off the counter he was leaning on, making his way to the woman who Fasma had served before she had left.

            He leaned into the bar and decided this would be who he spend the evening chatting with. The woman’s name was Jessica, she was a cousin of a local, in town for the week visiting family. She joked about her family being so crazy they were driving her to drink. Hux spent the next nearly hour chatting with her, while she nursed her drink. He found after a while he did enjoy talking to her, and she must have enjoyed him as she slipped her number and a large tip in his front shirt pocket after she cashed out her tab and was leaving. As she walked out the door, she blew him a kiss, promising to be back tomorrow. He smiled and waved in return.

            It was at this point he looked down to the end of the bar where Ben was, who was done his beer and staring daggers at Hux. He lifted the empty the glass, rudely, in Hux’s direction. Hux nodded and went to pour him another.

            The evening continued awkwardly, with Ben at the end of bar, demanding refills, Hux walking around, cleaning and doing whatever he could to make closing down easier for him. He was making sure that all he needed to do was literally shut the lights off and lock the doors when he was done. All other patrons had left and he decided he’d just pay for Ben’s drinks so he could close down the last register. Everything was wiped down, floors swept, money counted. All that was left was Ben.

            “Alright, mate, gotta get.” Hux grabbed the couple empty glasses from in front of Ben, as he told him to leave.

            “Kay.” Ben went to grab his wallet and Hux just shook his head.

            “On the house.” Hux walked away to put the glasses in the bin, which he decided he would deal with in the morning. He didn’t turn around, but heard the bell of the door ding so he knew Ben had left. He went back to the office, grabbed his messenger bag, closed and locked that door and made his way back out. As he walked out, he flipped the lights off, leaving just one above the bar sink on. He turned to lock the doors behind him and then began walk down the road to home.

            “Hux.” He heard from behind. It was the deep, husky voice of Ben Solo. He turned around and was faced with Ben, who was nervously running his fingers through that gorgeous ink black hair. Hux wanted to reach up and touch it himself, but he refrained.

            “What?” Hux snapped out. He was no longer in the mood to deal with this. He didn’t need Ben to try to justify anything or explain anything. He had come to terms with the rejection and just wanted to move on from it, maybe continue to be friends. Ben was making that quite difficult.

            Ben just stared at him for a second before doing the most unexpected thing. He walked the two steps to close the distance between them, placed his hand gently on Hux’s jaw, tilting his head up slightly and kissed Hux. It was not the shy, timid kiss Hux had given Ben the previous night, but a slow, deep kiss that shook Hux down to the core. The feeling of Ben’s larger plush lips on his own went straight to his stomach, where a warm, liquid heat was pooling low. Ben began to move his lips more, using his tongue to part Hux’s lips, gaining entry to his mouth. Ben had reached his other hand up, now caging Hux’s face in his grip. Hux had brought his hands up to rest gently on Ben’s hips, unsure of where else to place them during this kiss.

            The kiss only lasted another second before Ben pulled away and panted softly, keeping Hux’s face in his hands. His eyes were trained on Hux’s, looking for any sort of reaction from the man. Hux was shocked, but made no move away from Ben. In fact, he tightened his grip on Ben’s hips and pulled him back into him. He drew Ben in for another kiss, this time licking the inside of Ben’s lower lip, beckoning him to open his mouth further. He did so and Hux took the opportunity and dove his tongue into the hot, wet sensation of Ben’s mouth. Ben responded with a moan that vibrated through his chest.

            Hux decided that the middle of the street was probably the best place for this sort of moment, so he, reluctantly, pulled away from Ben. Ben was smiling at Hux, exposing his crooked teeth, making him look horrible young and naïve. Hux smiled back at him, but pulled away so they were no longer touching.

            “Hux. You took me by surprise last night.” Ben grabbed Hux’s hand gently.

            “You took me by surprise tonight, mate.” Hux chuckled and patted Ben’s hand with his other. It was such a sweet moment, Hux didn’t even mind that they just made out in the middle of the night in an alley next to his bar. “But this is probably not an appropriate place for a midnight dalliance, yeah?”

            “Dalliance, huh? Is that what this is?” Ben raised his eyebrows at Hux.

            Hux playfully shoved at Ben’s chest, quietly appreciating the firm muscles he felt under his shirt. He would definitely be thinking about that later. He would probably be thinking about more than that, but he was still coming to terms with the fact that Ben had just ambushed him outside the bar just to kiss him. The thought tugged at Hux’s heart and he felt a slow smile spread across his face. Ben returned the smile.

            “Well, what now, Hux?” Ben asked softly, grabbing for Hux’s hand again and intertwining their fingers.

            Hux squeezed Ben’s hand and tugged him along, beginning to walk back down the road. “Now, I am going to walk you to your B&B, you’re going to go to bed and we will talk about his in the morning, when you are sober and come over.” Hux kept walking, having to practically drag a protesting Ben behind him.

            “Why don’t I just stay at your house again? You’ll have to walk past your house, anyway. I’ll just crash in the guest room again. And I can make you breakfast again.” Ben was practically whining and Hux could not refuse it. It was too good an offer from too cute a man.

            “Fine. Let’s go. You’re a long man, pick up the pace.” Hux and Ben made their way down the street, holding hands, till they got to Hux’s house. They walked up the small drive, and, in the dark, Hux fumbled with his keys for a moment. Once he got it, they practically tumbled into the house.

            Ben had pushed Hux against the wall next to the door, using his foot to kick the door shut. He planted his hands on the wall behind Hux’s head and stared into Hux’s eyes. Beneath him, Hux was panting and ready. He didn’t know what Ben was about to do, but he wasn’t going to stop it regardless. Ben’s eyes were locked into his, until he leaned down to plant his lips forcefully against Hux’s. It was a sloppy kiss that Hux could most likely attribute to Ben’s state of mind but he surely didn’t mind it. Even if it was the messiest kiss he had experience, it was with Ben, who was undoubtedly the most attractive man, or even person, that he had ever met or been with. It was also the most passionate kiss he had ever felt. They way Ben moved his mouth against his was nearly intoxicating.

            It was so overwhelming, Hux placed his hands on Ben’s chest. Ben must have got the wrong idea from the gesture, as he broke the kiss and pulled away from Hux’s face. Though, he kept his hands planted on the wall behind Hux’s head. They both still had their eyes closed from the kiss, both panting in an attempt to catch their breaths, both swimming in emotions and sexual tension.

            “Ben.” Hux breathed out and opened his eyes. He didn’t know else to say to this man. He had a million thoughts floating in his head and every time he tried to form a sentence, it came out a breathy sigh instead of words.

            Ben’s eyes opened slowly when he heard his name, his lashes batting as he slowly lifted his gaze to meet Hux’s. Neither of them were sure how to break this moment, but apparently Ben realized someone should, so he withdrew his hands from the wall and made his way into Hux’s small kitchen without a word. Hux scoffed a little at the presumptuous nature of Ben, but also smiled that he was so comfortable in his house. He followed Ben into the kitchen, watching him search for a glass and fill it with water, chug that water, fill it again and chug again. He did that twice more, as Hux watched leaning against the threshold of the room.

            Hux chuckled at Ben, catching the man’s attention, who looked over the glass at him. Once he finished, he put the glass next to the sink and sunk himself into once of the kitchen chairs.

            “So, let’s talk.” Ben nodded to the chair across the table from him.

            Hux sighed and made his way to the chair. He sat, not realizing till that moment that he was tired down to his bones.

            “I said we would do that in the morning when you are sober.”

            “I’m not drunk, Hux. I’m in my right mind. I’ve been wanting to do that since I laid eyes on you.” Ben kept a controlled gaze on Hux, to gauge his reaction.

            Hux’s jaw literally dropped at Ben’s confession. He hadn’t realized that he wasn’t the only one with strong feelings from the beginning. He hadn’t even begun to consider that Ben could have been struggling, and clearly had been, in the exact same as he was. The revelation was shocking, to say the least.

            “Why didn’t you say anything?” Hux asked gently.

            “I was nervous that you wouldn’t be into men, I guess. Or me. I’m not sure but I knew that I didn’t want to stop hanging out with you, as lame as that sounds.” Hux grinned at Ben’s words, beginning to feel like he was in a trashy romantic comedy. The good kind though. The kind you watch when you are sad and want to feel better.

            “I feel like an arse. I had the same thought, but I clearly have less self-control than you, mate.” Hux chuckled and folded his arms across his chest.

            “I wish I reacted better last night. I should have kissed you back, not stepped away. I was… surprised.”

            “I thought I had overstepped boundaries last night. Thought you may never talk to me again.” Hux hesitated a moment before continuing. “And there is one big issue in the near future.” He hoped Ben would pick up on what he meant so he would not have to explain.

            Ben furrowed his brow in confusion and Hux sighed. He knew he would have to explain and he felt his heart breaking slightly at the thought.

            “Ben. You’re leaving.” It was all he managed to choke out. He felt his voice hitch in his throat at the last syllable. He hoped Ben wouldn’t be bothered by the sadness in his voice.

            “Oh.” Ben stared down at his hands. He looked utterly defeated by the realization.

            Hux wasn’t sure where to go from here. He had the overwhelming urge to jump across the table into Ben’s lap and never let him go, but he knew that was not the appropriate response. And he did not want to get more attached to a man he knew was only temporary. It was a fruitless endeavor.

            “I don’t know what to do, Hux.” Ben leaned his elbows onto the table but continued to avoid eye contact with Hux.

            “Sleep, Ben. Let’s hit the sack, we’ll see each other in the morning.” Hux stood and walked over to Ben, grabbed his hand and pulled the larger man up. Ben stood and kept a tight grip on Hux’s hand as they walked down the short hallway to the bedrooms. When they got outside the guest room door, Ben leaned into Hux. It was a slower kiss than earlier, and full of a new emotion. Hux tried his best to focus on the kiss and not the implication of it.

            When they parted, he smiled up at Ben and ran a thumb over the man’s cheek. He could probably stare at Ben all day if given the opportunity; though, that may be slightly weird. Ben returned his smile with a goofy, toothy grin which made Hux’s heart swell.

            They said their goodnights and retreated into their respective rooms for the night, much to Hux’s dismay. He wanted nothing more than to invite Ben to his bed, to lay with him all night, kiss him whenever he wanted, fuck him senseless. But that would not be a smart decision given their circumstances and Hux’s predisposition to think of the future and the effects that sex would have on their situation and his mental health. He shrugged his clothes off, slid into bed, and stared at the ceiling.

             Another night of intrusive thoughts took over Hux as he tried to drift to sleep. He thought not only of Ben, but of the bar, Irene’s vacation and his ten straight nights of closing, his newfound sexuality (which didn’t bother him in the slightest, it was just a new discovery) and his father. It was on nights like tonight that he wished his da was still around for advice. During university, Hux was always able to call and ask for his advice or opinion and he had always been more than willing to give it. Hux desperately wanted to know what his da would do in this situation, how he would move forward knowing the person he was falling for would be moving on in the near future. He sighed audibly, praying sleep would find him soon so he could shut off his brain. And it did. His last thought before drifting off was his da smiling at him, telling him he was proud of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you enjoy their first actual kiss?? I sure did!  
> I also love ending on Hux's nighttime thoughts! He's definitely an emotional nighttime thinker.   
> I'm also obsessed with Hux's day to day life and I could probably write an entire chapter of just bar responsibilities! 
> 
> title is I Fall Apart by Post Malone 
> 
> As always, comments are more than welcome. Please do let me know what are you thinking! <33


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